


Rise

by shadowcaster



Category: Naruto
Genre: Adopted Brother Itachi, Adopted Brother Kakashi, Bad Description of Fight Scenes, Bisexual Male Characters, Bisexual Naruko, Dai-nana-han | Team 7 (Naruto)-centric, Demons, F/F, F/M, Female Uzumaki Naruto, Gen, Hanyou, Human/Demon Hybrids, I'll Write Sex Scenes Sooner or Later, Inappropriate Humor, Konoha 12 - Freeform, M/M, Multi, Naruko Is Cool With the ANBU, Naruko Loves to Fight, Naruko Swears Like a Sailor, Neji's Too Proud for His Own Good, Older Brother Kurama, Original Character(s), Pansexual Character, Possible Character Death, Reverse Harem, Sasuke's OOC like a mf, Sexual Humor, Summons Up the Ass, Team Bonding, Violence, original jutsu
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-14
Updated: 2018-07-11
Packaged: 2018-08-31 03:37:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 34,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8562103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowcaster/pseuds/shadowcaster
Summary: The life changing story of a young orphan who wants to be number one ninja. So inspiring and heartfelt. Right... Watch as the child of Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze follows her Way of the Ninja: kicking ass, taking names, and staying true to herself. Whether her enemies want to or not, they will never forget the day they first heard the name Naruko Uzumaki.





	1. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 100% brand new start to my baby, my very first written fic. To those that read the original, thank you for being so patient with me for so fucking long. To my new readers that might have stumbled upon this poorly written piece, I apologize lmao. Right now, I will be moving on to outline the ninth chapter while simultaneously heavily editing chapters 2-4 to fit how I want this to go.

_"She'll be seen as a hero… The third container of the Nine Tails…" Minato took a shuddering breath, the final moments of his life coming to a close as he brushed one of the sun kissed locks of hair away from his child's forehead._  
  
_"Minato…," Jiraiya started._  
  
_"Don't, Jiraiya-sensei… It's no use to argue now… It's… It's time…" Handing over his first and only child to her godfather, Namikaze Minato turned to face a translucent gaunt spectre with a demonic face, holding a tanto in its mouth. Thankfully, the Shinigami allowed the Hokage to have one last moment with his daughter before his soul was taken. He gave one last look towards the small whimpering baby, his sensei and his predecessor before turning back to the demon._  
_  
_ No other words were spoken as the Shinigami used his tanto to cut the Fourth Hokage's honored soul, and the Yin half of the Nine Tails, away.

* * *

 

**《Age Five》**

 

Little Uzumaki Naruko may have been only five years old and talked with a lisp (thanks to losing her two front teeth), but despite what the mean grown ups said, she wasn’t stupid. She actually caught onto things rather quickly. She didn’t think she was mean or bad. She never hurt anyone. At least that’s what the other kids at the orphanage and on the playground told her. None of them ever offered to play with her so how could she be mean, she wondered. She hardly ever caused any trouble with the older ladies that ran the orphanage and if she had, it was because they actually caught her out past bedtime. She often snuck out to watch the sun trade places with the moon while sitting on the big rock with the faces on it.

 

Depending on what time of year it was, the sky would change into pretty colors that made her tummy wriggle with excitement. So even on the off chance that she’d be seen sneaking back inside, risking trouble to watch the sun set and rise was always worth it.

 

The moon reminded her of the nice, quiet boy that she’d play tag with in the woods. He was her friend; at least, she thought he was. He never made fun of her and liked to share the pocky that he’d stolen from his brother with her. His big brother was nice and quiet too, and they never seemed bothered that Naruko was so loud. She had known the two of them since she turned five and it was already the middle of summer so she knew that her birthday would be coming later in the year. Her friend’s birthday would be coming at the end of the hottest month too. She planned to draw him a picture and buy him a stuffed cat toy with the money she had found lying in the street one day.

 

She just hoped that ‘Ke (that was all she could pronounce without sounding like a snake) liked her drawing, as she wasn’t the best artist. ‘Ke was a year older than her and often tried to brag about it whenever he won the games they played. He would always pout when Naruko giggled after him saying so, making him look even younger than she did.

 

He never let anyone tease her either. On the off chance that they did venture from their usual stomping grounds to the playground, he always let her get on the slide first and pushed down whatever bully had kicked sand at her face.

 

 _“Your eyes are too bright to be sad.”_ ‘Ke told her after he kicked a kid in the shin for tripping her, causing Naruko to scrape her knee. They never went back after that, ‘Ke claiming that it was way more fun with just the two of them.

 

The moon rose a bit more over her and Naruko shivered from the light breeze that tickled at her back. Even though it was the hottest month of the year (July), it was rather chilly on the big rock.

 

She felt the presence of another person standing behind her and her body tensed, afraid to move. She grit her teeth as the person came closer, but a second breeze danced by and the scent of the person wafted under her nose. Her body relaxed considerably and she was wrapped in something big and soft; a blanket. The person took their usual seat behind her, pulling her small body towards their chest to keep her warm. Their hand stroked the mess of blonde hair on top of her head and her eyes became heavy, but she was determined to watch the moon reach its apex.

 

When she began to nod off, Kakashi deemed it safe to pick her up and get her into a bed. A bubble of anger formed in his chest as he held her tighter. She was just a kid, a baby, she deserved to have somewhere to go. But before he could actually take a step to leave, the bundle in his arms began to whine. She wriggled, her head poking up from the blanket and rested her head on Kakashi’s shoulder. Her eyes wide, Naruko watched the moon become smaller the further she was pulled away from it.

 

By the time Kakashi had arrived back in his apartment, she had already fallen asleep. He tucked Naruko in on her side of his bed (the right side) since unfortunately, he only had one bedroom. Luckily, neither seemed to mind all that much as each other’s presence gave the two a sense of security only the other could offer. Just before he could close his eye, he felt Naruko scoot closer.

 

His lips curved upwards into a smile and now, he could finally sleep too. But he knew that when he woke up again, she’d be gone. Gone to watch the sun rise and to watch it set, and he’d go return to the same place to bring her back. Because if he didn’t, she’d find somewhere outside to sleep like he knew she did when he wasn’t in the village.

* * *

 

**《Age Six》**

 

When little Naruko is six, she realizes that maybe she doesn’t deserve to have any friends. At least, that’s what the mean kids at the playground told her when ‘Ke’s big brother said that their father wanted him at home that day. _Monsters don’t have friends_ , one big kid said. He bragged about being in the Academy before, so maybe he knew something that she didn’t? But what made her a monster?

 

Did she secretly become the scary shadow monster under their beds at night?

 

Safely up on a tree branch, away from where any bullies could see her, Naruko kicked her feet in worry. She nearly gasped aloud at the thought. _She didn’t, did she?_ It would definitely explain why the grown ups always treated her like she looked and smelled gross.

 

But… ‘Ke and his brother never treated her like that. Neither did her big bro, and as far as Naruko was concerned, ‘Kashi knew _everything_.

 

So why should she listen to some dumb kids just cause they were older than her?

 

Her bravado was suddenly shaken when a twinge of pain on her arm made her look down for the source. It was dark now, she hadn’t realized that she had been up there for so long. Squinting her eyes, she was that it was that mean boy again, and he brought his friends with him. Her eyes honed in on their hands; so that’s what hurt so much, a rock. The boy spoke up again, this time saying that his parents said that she was _dangerous_. All his friends agreed, claiming that their parents said the same.

 

Why did these grown ups insist on labeling her as something she wasn’t? _She hadn’t done anything wrong._ Just as quick as she had stood on the tree branch, more rocks were thrown in her direction. Another hit her knee, this one a bit sharper, and she glared down, her cheeks puffed up in anger.

 

The look in her eyes made the boys nervous and they lowered their arms.

 

Today, there was no big brother or friend to protect her from bullies. No, she needed to learn to fend for herself and teach people that she wasn’t one to mess with. With that in mind, Naruko jumped down softly just as ‘Kashi had taught her, fearlessness showing in her eyes. They jumped back, their grips on their weapons growing tighter. The biggest one had no qualms and was ready to push her down when Naruko did so first.

 

She just wanted them to leave her alone and she voiced this out loud. She wasn’t some cruel mean thing nor was she someone that they could use as a verbal (or sometimes even physical) punching bag.

 

 _“I’m not bad,”_  Naruko shouted at them. She pulled at the boy’s hair and she held even tighter when the boy tried to push her off. With her other hand balled in a small fist, she hit the boy in the face over and over, repeating her statement. She hadn’t realized, but one of the others had ran off to get help. Suddenly, she was shoved off the boy by a huge force.

 

A grown up, she realized when she looked up. They kicked at her stomach, pain bubbling up past her lips in a cry. She heard others catching up, already shouting their words of anger. She didn’t understand.

 

Why did they hate her so much? They always called her the same things: **_a monster, a demon_ ** . Did they _want_ her to act like that? She may have only been a child, but even she knew that there’s only so much a person could take. The worst thing she’d done was steal candy from the store. That didn’t make Naruko evil, did it?

 

The other grown ups finally showed, more than happy to join in on berating her. She held her hands to her ears as tightly as she could, gritting her teeth. She looked back up from her place on the ground, watching as another foot jabbed at her left side. This action encouraged another on the opposite side. Another by her legs, the bottom of their sandals scraping her shin. She bit her lip when the skin broke.

 

Despite her efforts to block them out, their words still poked through. She didn’t deserve to be happy and safe while they were stuck mourning. What did she have to do with that? _“Just seeing her made them sick,”_ they told her. More pain resonated throughout her body, the words getting rattled in her head.

 

Why?

 

Why did they hate her?

 

She just wanted to _run._ Her brain kept telling her to get away but her body was frozen in place. It was like her brain was trying to make her move faster than she already could. Her nerves ached with the urge to just bolt off, so quickly that no one could even see her, but her muscles wouldn’t budge. She just hurt more and more and she can’t avoid it.

 

Was this karma? Is this what everyone meant?

 

Did she deserve this? Did she hurt people?

 

_Why couldn’t she move?_

 

Naruko closed her eyes and gritted her teeth as tightly as she could, trying to absorb the pain.

 

But it hurt so, so much. She felt something blunt hit her head, knocking a cry from her mouth that only gave her another blow to the head in response.

 

Maybe this is what she exists for. To let people release their anger and sadness on her in order for them to feel better. She didn’t want people to be sad and if it meant dealing with this, then… she would…

 

 _Why won’t they_ **_stop_ ** _?_

 

She can’t do this. Something in her tummy burned. But it didn’t feel like it was hurting her? It felt… warm. A pleasant feeling felt that almost foreign at this point already. The burn touched her toes and slowly crept up her arms and chest, wrapping itself gently around her neck and head.

 

_The pain stopped._

 

Naruko opened her eyes slowly, a clearing in the thick trees showing the night sky in its all of its glory being the first thing she saw. It looked so crisp and defined, like she could just reach out a grab a star if she wanted.

 

_She missed the sunset._

 

That made her more upset than anything. Her left hand balled up into a fist and hit the ground, leaving a head sized dent in the earth. She jerked her hand away in shock, nearly smacking herself in the face. The gasps surrounding her were merely background noise. She moved it so quickly, she realized. It took her a moment to notice that her hand didn’t even look the same. This was hers, right? It was small like hers, the same short, stubby fingers, only it wasn’t. She had _claws_ ; long, sharp and pointy. There was this… weird bubbly orange stuff on it; on _her._ She looked down, only to confirm if the warm stuff was actually on her body. It didn’t hurt at all, but it felt funny; like she was inside a waterbed filled with warm jelly, only way less sticky. Her toes looked the same; she wriggled them just in case.

 

 _“I knew it,”_ one of the mean grown ups shouted. _“The Nine Tails was just waiting to return.”_ Outrage reared again within the group.

 

This time she wouldn’t lay down and take everything they dished out. Not anymore, not ever. They could hate her all they wanted, but no one would hurt again.

 

She’ll make sure of it.

 

It was almost like a reflex the way her body pounced on the grown up man in front of her. The outraged turned to fear, and they all struggled to pull her away, but Naruko’s claws were deep in the man’s shoulders already. The burning thing in her tummy cheered her on, reminding her that this would keep her safe.

 

But behind her, her nose scented out a new person had arrived, though they were familiar.

 

“Naruko, can you hear me?” Itachi murmured from behind his mask. The small girl’s eyebrows furrowed, but she nodded anyway; of course she could. What a silly question.

 

He walked closer, but moved slowly as if not to set her off. He reached his hand out, pulling her fingers out of the gaping holes she created. She stared at the drops of blood sliding down her hands, giving Itachi time to put her on the ground behind him.

 

“‘Tachi…,” she whispered.

 

“It’s okay, Naruko, you didn’t do anything wrong.” His quiet voice soothed her. “Now, I need you to shut your eyes for me, okay?” She quickly did as he asked and heard his tanto get removed from its sheath. “By order of the Third and Fourth Hokage, any mention of the Nine-Tailed Fox or abuse towards Uzumaki Naruko is punishable by death. I assume you all know this?”

 

By the first gurgled scream, she already had her hands clamped over her ears again. But all the new sounds, how clearly her ears captured everything, she couldn’t shut it out.

 

The thing in her tummy was happy… and to herself, Naruko admitted that she was too. Those people wanted to hurt her with words or violence, probably worse. They always did. Why should she care about them?

 

A hand landed on her shoulder and she instinctively swatted it away, tensing her body to retaliate. “Easy there,” Itachi murmured, patting her head gently. Prying her eyes open, Naruko gasped at the sight of his ANBU uniform, something he always kept in pristine condition. There was blood on it that didn’t smell as fresh as the blood that spilled here.

 

“Wha- what happened?”

 

“Naru…,” he sighed. The youngest’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. Itachi _never_ called her that, he was always too formal to do so otherwise. There was almost a look of relief in his eyes when she stared into them. “You cannot tell _anyone_ what I’m getting ready to tell you, despite the fact that you shouldn’t even know. Not even Kakashi-senpai and **_especially_ ** not Sasuke.” 

* * *

 

‘Tachi told her not to talk to ‘Ke anymore. Said that he wasn’t feeling good and needed to be alone for awhile.

 

But to Naruko, it sounded more like the complete opposite. Friends helped each other, right? Why would she leave him alone when he’s hurting? She doesn’t think she could sleep knowing her only friend needed her.

 

So she went anyway.

 

When Naruko arrived at the Uchiha District, it was quiet. Eerie. When she would leave late, or even staying the night if ‘Ke’s Kaa-san said it was okay, she could at least hear people training, animals or kids running around… could smell them.

 

But now it just smelled like dirt, fire and death.

 

Walking further into the area, the smell never once wavered, in fact, another scent joined. Blood, and a lot of it, the same kind from ‘Tachi’s uniform. It invaded her nose, like there were plugs stuffed up inside and she couldn’t take them out.

 

She took her familiar path to ‘Ke’s compound.

 

It wasn’t unusual for his home to be so quiet, but this was uncomfortable. She was already able to hear pretty well, plus the weird bubbly stuff made her ears even better. The lack of sound sent chills down her back.

 

‘Ke… He… wasn’t hurt, was he? ‘Tachi just said that he wasn’t feeling well, that’s all. He wouldn’t do that, ‘Tachi loved ‘Ke.

 

…but he did say that he did something bad. The sound of her shoes squeaking on the polished wood floors brought some solace.

 

Something salty wafted up her nose… tears? Following the scent, avoiding the spots of blood haphazardly decorating the floor, it lead to ‘Ke’s Tou-san’s office. She heard someone crying inside; it smelled like the youngest Uchiha.

 

She called his name, but behind the door, the crying stopped completely.

 

She saw both his parents laying on the floor in front of him, her own throat too tight; too scared, to say anything. The boy jerked away from her when she moved closer, sniffling as he did so.

 

 _‘Why was she here?’_ Sasuke wondered. He voiced this out loud. “How are you here?” he cried.

 

This person… they looked like Naru, sounded like her.

 

But she wasn’t. Her hair was wrong, she was wrong; all of this was _wrong_.

 

What did Itachi do to her?

 

Her hair was _bleeding_ ; it was so red, just like everything else. All he saw was red. He shut his eyes tightly, forcing his brain to picture his Naru like she always was: bright, yellow, happy, shiny.

 

Not this, please, _not this._

 

“Get away,” Sasuke whispered. “You’re all wrong…”

 

“Wha-?” Naruko gasped. What did he mean? Something wriggled in her again, but it wasn’t her tummy this time, no, it was her chest.

 

It hurt.

 

Ita- that… person already hurt his favorite person before he could even see her.

 

His Sunshine. Bright Eyes.

 

Why show her like this to him; red, sad and wrong.

 

That’s not how she’s supposed to be.

 

“Go away!” he shouted at the evil thing this time. “I know you aren’t real!”

 

More tears streamed heavily down Sasuke’s cheeks, and Naruko wanted to make him feel better but…

 

The way he looked… it reminded her of herself.

 

And she remembered what Itachi told her. _“No matter what you do, don’t touch him; it will only make things worse.”_ She couldn’t understand why she wasn’t allowed to help him. Why did he believe this was the best thing to do? Her chest tightened even more when she saw the unbridled hate in Sasuke’s eyes.

 

Why was she going along with this?

 

Naruko nodded, mainly to herself. While she definitely didn’t understand how, this was supposed to help Sasuke.

 

“It’s okay, ‘Ke.” He flinched at the use of the nickname and her chest hurt again. “I get it. You wanna be alone for awhile. I hope you feel better soon so we can some more, okay?” She forced the grin on her face, even when Sasuke began speaking to himself.

 

“Not her,” he whispered. “Fake, fake, _fake_.”

 

She had to get out, needed to breathe. As fast as her legs could take her, Naruko darted out of the complex and into the empty street.

 

Right now, the village looked horrifying to her. She closed her own eyes shut as tightly as she could, unwilling to hold such dark images in her mind. The thing in her tummy that such things cannot be erased like that; only tucked away. If that was the case, then that’s what she would have to do.

 

This is what she exists for; to let Sasuke release his anger and sadness on her so he can feel better. Sasuke being sad was the last thing she wanted, so she would do as Itachi said.

 

Naruko mindlessly took her path to the giant mountain of faces, unbothered by the rain pelting her head. She caught her reflection in a store window, light from an apartment room offering her help. Ah, so that’s why he said those things, she realized.

 

Briefly, she thought it looked rather nice, her hair. She wondered when this happened.

 

Moving on, Naruko stared up at the dark sky, already urging for the sunrise.

 

_It was a new moon tonight._

* * *

  
**《Age Seven》**

 

As a young child shot out of a store with their arms stuffed with loaves of bread, two full grown men struggled to chase after the culprit. The sound of wind gathering under the child's big shirt was all she could really hear as she ran. The baggy shorts the thief was wearing needed to be secured around her waist with a belt but were instead held up by rope she had found in the trash.

  
**¤¤¤**

  
_"It's been about six and a half years since you were last here, Jiraiya…," Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, scolded._  
  
_"I… I know," the Sannin sighed._  
  
_"A lot has changed since then… And the majority of it did not go as well as we had hoped…"_  
_  
_ "How do you mean…?"

  
**¤¤¤**

  
Her huge clothes didn't seem to slow her down in the least. Her bare feet were layered over with dirt and light scratches. She was so used to walking over rocks and sharp objects that it didn't even bother her anymore. She had a lot of scratches… bruises… Nothing fazed her anymore.

  
**¤¤¤**

  
" _For one thing… I've just recently found out that she's been living on the streets since she was five. And not one time, did anyone, nor her, decided to tell me… Hiding in old houses and buildings… Stealing food… I suppose that's my fault. I should have known… I've been unable to keep a watch on everything..."_  
  
_"W-what…? H-how… Isn't that what the Civilian Counsel is for? What about Homura and Koharu?"_  
_  
"Yes, and it's been just as difficult with their supposed help. I highly suspect both the Civilian Counsel and my former teammates are to blame… Luckily for me, one of my ANBU, well Jonin as of recently, decided to take it upon himself to watch over her instead: Kakashi Hatake."_

  
**¤¤¤**

  
"Thief!" one said.

 

The speaker happened to be the owner of the store, trying to keep up with the red haired child. The shopkeeper noticed that the kid ran so fast that their hair almost resembled a red shock of lightning. The other man, who was the clerk on shift when the kid walked in, thought the child looked faultless… Thick red hair, electric blue eyes… Pouting lip… The seven year old was the poster child for innocence. He had only just moved to Konoha from Kusa not long ago, he never would have known who━ what the kid was.

  
**¤¤¤**

  
_"Hatake… Sakumo's boy? Minato's student?" When his sensei nodded, Jiraiya raised his eyebrows and nodded in approval._  
  
_"Intelligent kid…"_  
_  
"Indeed… He's been watching her since you left━" Jiraiya flinched. "━and has taken quite a shine to her; very protective. He would have adopted her if Homura and Koharu hadn't gotten in the way. They told him watching her would just get in the way of his duties, that he shouldn't waste his time watching over a child. And while Kakashi and I agree that missions would keep him away often, it would've been much better than living among the streets…"_

  
**¤¤¤**

  
The store's clerk stopped and stared as the blond lightning bolt jumped over a trash can, with total ease, which a cat had knocked over. He was practically paralyzed when his boss kept running and tripped over the same trash can, attempting the same thing. The clerk tried to bite back the laugh that wanted to erupt from his lips, but the urge quickly dissipated, when his boss yelled for him to help him up.

  
**¤¤¤**

  
_"So where is she now?"_

  
**¤¤¤**

  
The young thief turned around, hearing the crash and burst out laughing at the old man struggling to stand up. Her bright eyes widened when the shopkeeper and clerk glared at the child. The youth spun around instantly and shot off as if the wind was there only to make her move faster. The seven year old searched for a hiding space while running and quickly turned into an abandoned alley.  
  
The two angry men followed the little brat into the alley and searched furiously; looking behind and inside dumpsters and trash cans, though they decided to ignore the moldy cardboard box in the corner. The two huffed angrily and could have sworn that the thief ran here… They turned and left grumbling.  
  
While everything in the alley was moved and checked, luckily for the neither of them bothered to check inside the moldy box. The redhead peeked from under the box to see if the angry adults had left. Gathering that this was true, Naruko Uzumaki ate her bread with a self-satisfied grin on her face.  
  
 On her third loaf of bread, a tall shadow towered over her. She looked up at the tall figure in fright.  
  
"W-who are y-you? W-what do you w-w-want?" her voice shook.  
  
The body vibrated with soft laughter and spoke softly as well. "I'm not here to hurt ya, kid… I've been looking for you for quite a while."  
     
Unconvinced, Naruko a slight crab-walk to back away from the man, only to hit the wall that ends the alley. She stood and squared up to the adult, her tiny hands in fists. "You're lying!" her voice cracked. "G-get away! I'll f-fight you if I-I h-have t-to…"  
  
The towering man laughed a little louder at the child. He leaned down to pick up the small seven years old, laughing louder as Naruto started to hitting and kicking his chest. He noticed that she should not be this tiny, though she did pack quite a punch in those little fists and feet of hers. At the same time he was thinking this, Naruto started to shout for him to put her down or else. He ignored her and snorted to himself, thinking how much she was like her mother.  
  
He walked out of the alley, the sun shining on his face so you could fully see his features. Many people easily recognized him just by his hair. When the people of the Village Hidden in the Leaves saw that Jiraiya was carrying the little girl they had rightfully dubbed _"the Lightning Sneak,"_ they cheered him on. Mistakenly thinking that he had reprimanded her for all of her misdeeds.

 

But what the Great Toad Sage was really doing was taking his goddaughter to her new home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Send love through comments and kudos, fam
> 
> tumblr: @kimthotjoon


	2. People Who Care

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a time jump about seven years later

Naruko grinned to herself as she spray painted the wall in the alley between the meat market and an abandoned building. She didn't intend to vandalize anything (today), but Jiraiya was on a "super secret, special S-ranked mission" ━ quoted from the hermit himself ━ and she was bored. Her pervy Godfather had been working her to the bone to sharpen her Taijustu skills for the past month to the point where she developed her own style: the Fox's Claw. She loved working on her ninja skills but now thirteen year old wanted to have some fun and relax.

Naruko put down the black spray paint and picked up the can with the yellow cap on it. After she finished filling in the bolt, she picked up a can of red paint, outlining it as if it was surrounded by the Nine-Tails' chakra. Naruko backed away from the wall, admiring her work. "Perfect. A work of art…" They say art is therapeutic, don't they? Consider this her way of getting out her anger and "giving back" to the civilians of Konoha. For the past week, she had been leaving her "calling card" all over the village. These people were going to know and remember her whether they liked it or not.

She tilted her head to the side, her long pony tails moving with her. Anybody could tell that Naruko was now a teenager. Her boyish hair that once barely met her shoulders was now down to her waist. Though it still retained the shagginess of when she lived in the orphanage and on the streets, Naruko enjoyed the wild and feral look it gave her. She was taller, which she was really happy about. She had a slim, athletic body, also. It was evident that Naruko Uzumaki was taking care of herself.

What was really noticed by boys was her chest. Don't get her wrong, she liked that she had them. To Naruko's and even more so, Jiraiya's despair, she developed at an early age: eleven. And they grew fast after just one year. As soon as she noticed them, Jiraiya put her in every article of baggy clothing he could find. While Naruko was grateful for him being so protective, she didn't want to look like a guy.

Naruko's eyes glared down at her chest. Well, it was kind of a glare but her eyes showed some happiness. Every time she walked some place, all the boys looked at her with desire. They were the perfect size too. Not too small, not too huge. The irritated glare was because she had developed so quickly, older men thought they could take advantage of her or treat her like she was some blond bimbo. Naruko hated being underestimated and people thinking that she was some priss who couldn't fight without breaking a nail.

Focusing back on her work of art, Naruko tapped her foot, trying to think of something else to add. "Something's missing… Oh!" Naruko picked up the black paint and began painting the kanji for 'Kitsune' on the wall. She backed away and stared at the graffiti. "Perfect! Now it's really complete!"

The fifteen year old's happiness was short lived when she sensed someone was behind her. She turned around and looked up at the significantly taller man smirking down at her. The man wore a green long sleeved shirt with a black vest hanging open, black pants and green sandals. His hair was blond and shaggy, it was almost a tannish color.

Naruko instantly determined that the guy was a grade A creep by the way her was staring at her. Like she was a piece of meat. And that pissed her off. What made it even worse was that he was wearing a Konoha forehead protector. Naruko narrowed her eyes and bared her slightly sharpened teeth that she gained from her tenant. The older ninja's ego deflated a little when Naruko's eyes flashed red.

"What the fuck do you want? Get out of here," she snarled.

The ninja's smirk grew when he realized who, or what in his case, she was.

The Nine-Tails' Jinchūriki… This just got better and better. He could have his way with her and get rid of her all in one go. He could be a hero to everyone.

"Who do you think you're talking to like that, little girl? You really need to respect your elders," the Leaf shinobi growled. He reached out to grab her arm but Naruko back away at the last second, snarling loudly. Her body shifted into a defensive position, Naruko's teeth even sharper than before. Naruko's chakra blue eyes melted into a purplish red. With her heightened sense of smell, she found out that the patrol ninja was piss drunk. Naruko practically recoiled at the pungent smell of alcohol.

"Hasn't your mother ever told you to respect a lady?" she growled. Naruko didn't let up out of her position for a second. The patrol ninja came back with a retort that made her snap. "Hasn't your mother ever taught you how to act like one?" Naruko's eyes flashed a vicious blood red. That was one of the few things that Naruko kept to her heart and you did not talk ill of. She knew who her parents were.

¤¤¤

_Naruko wanted to read so badly that snuck into the library a few years back. The librarians didn't want a demon scaring the people away, they told her. So she dug a hole in an old, abandoned part of the building where she knew no one went to. Naruko always made sure the library was closed before she snuck in._

_At any rate, when Naruko was nine, she found a book about some of the best ninja of Konoha. To her surprise, she found a picture of a man who looked just like her. Minato Namikaze… Same blond hair, same shade of shockingly blue eyes… At first Naruko just wrote it off as a coincidence._

_She kept reading the passage until she read a name that almost made her punch a wall in frustration. Kushina Uzumaki… She was a member of the Uzumaki clan! Naruko thought. She put two and two together and quickly learned that her mother was the best kunochi while her father was the best shinobi. Apparently, her parents were so great that they earned the names, "Red Hot-Blooded Habanero" and "Konoha's Yellow Flash" and her father became Hokage._

_She read that Kushina wanted to become Hokage as well, but Minato beat her to it. Naruko finished reading and sat there for hours thinking about what life would have been like if her parents were alive until the early hours of the next day._

_Still lost in her thoughts, Naruko's mind drifted to the conversation she had with, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage. He could barely keep up with her numerous questions._

_"Naruko… Naruko, calm down… I'll answer all of your questions." And that's what she did. For the next two hours, Naruko asked whatever question that popped into her head._

_"Jiji, why didn't you tell me who my parents were?"_

_Naruko's grandfather, for all intents and purposes, sighed. "You were supposed to have your father's last name. But because of his enemies in Iwa, I was afraid they would come after you out of compensation for your father. Not only that, but your mother… she was the Jinchūriki of the Kyuubi before you. The Uzumaki were the best choices for such a strong being like the Kyuubi… Your parents and I didn't want to tell you this until you strong enough to fend for yourself. But I suppose now is a better time than any other…"_

¤¤¤

Naruko shook her head rapidly to escape from her memories. She sighed inwardly at herself for being so distracted and glared at the irritating man in front of her. "My mother… is dead. But seeing as you're one of the close-minded assholes that know about my _condition_ , you already knew that. For even _mentioning_ my mother, you have the honor of getting your ass kicked by a thirteen year old girl."

The guard ninja snorted loudly, foolishly underestimating his opponent, something no ninja should ever do. "You're nothing with a bottle-headed blond with a big mouth. What could you do to a powerful shinobi like me?" he said cockily.

Now it was Naruko's turn to snort. Powerful? Bottle-headed? The patrol nin decided to be ignorantly bold and reach for chest. "You may be a brat, but you might be good for something…" He never even got to finish his sentence when she grabbed onto his hand, her blonde bangs shadowing all her features. Naruko lifted her head and showed off her flaming red eyes. The man trembled as Naruko forced him to his knees. Shit, what had he gotten himself into?

"Keep your _filthy_ hands offa me!"

Naruko's free hand cocked back and snapped forward, connecting with his face. The powerful punch sending him face first into a pile of trash on the alley wall opposite of her. The smell of rotten meat filled the air and Naruko covered her nose. Sometimes she hated her heightened senses.

"Shit! This fuckin' reeks! You stupid bi−" Before he could even finish the word, Naruko sent a kick to his stomach. A stream of blood flew from his lips as he crashed into the foul smelling trash again.

Naruko smirked, walking towards the man, squatting a couple of inches away. Her hand grasped his dirty blond hair and yanked his head up. The man wasn't too bad… Actually, his face was perfectly − "Ahah!" Time froze. A bit of blood had come up from the man's cough, landing directly on Naruko's face. Her once dull red eyes flashed purple and then red as the flames of Hell. An emotionless giggle left Naruko's lips before she let out a growl and head-butted the man. A loud scream was heard throughout the village followed by sudden silence.

Naruko held onto the limp body for a second, scowling as she waited for the man to regain consciousness. After two minutes, she simply gave up; tossing the body aside and for the first time noticing one of his ribs were protruding from the stomach of the man. She also noticed his head was bleeding severely as it lollied unconsciously to the side. Her eyes followed a particular trail of blood sliding down his cheek.

_**"Exciting, isn't it? The bloodlust?"** _

Naruko shook her head quickly, replying back in her head. _"Shut the fuck up, Kurama…"_

Ignoring the fox's soft chuckle, she looked down at the disgusting piece of shit on the ground. At least he was still brea━

"B-bitch!" Naruko froze. Did she hear correctly? Of course! Her hearing was more superior than the Inuzuka clan! This _terrible_ excuse of a patrol chūnin had dared call _her_ a _bitch_?

A dark smirk overcame Naruko's lips, letting the demon sealed inside her take over slightly. _'This is going to be so fun…'_ Naruko made her way to the ninja, glaring down at the idiotic man. _'At least had enough sense to tremble now.'_ Naruko reeled her fist back before punching him with a chakra coated fist to his stomach. She didn't care in the least about his fucked up rib. All that mattered was this motherfucker d━

"Naruko, what are you doing?" Naruko turned her head towards the voice, grinning sheepishly.

"Kakashi-nii san! How are you doing this afternoon? Hehe…" Naruko felt the disappointed look on her adopted brother's face as she looked down at the ground.

"Naru… what did he do to be on the other side your fist?" Kakashi asked calmly. He already knew what for and was already angry, but he wanted to hear it from her.

"I don't wanna tell you… Your voice is all calm and stuff… It's eerie, 'Kashi."

Kakashi frowned slightly behind the mask covering the bottom half of his face. Eerie? He could admit he was quite intimidating by his calm demeanor but eerie? Kakashi shook his head slightly to escape his thoughts. "Just tell me, Naruko. I won't be angry."

Naruko gave an unladylike snort. "Yeah, you will. But since he's half dead anyway, fine. He… he, uh…," She sighed softly, then took a deep breath, "He cornered me back here and thought he could have his way with me." She smirked slightly and glared down at the unconscious man. "Piece of shit didn't know who the fuck he was dealing with. But I guess you underestimate everyone when you're lit as fuck. I can smell the sake all over him, 'Kashi."

Kakashi was seething. Though he was mad, Kakashi made sure not to show it. He was known for his calm demeanor in all situations and he wasn't going to break it now. Naruko would give him Hell if he did. Kakashi's lone, uncovered eye drifted to the sorry excuse for a man. He walked over to the body, his masked nose scrunched up at the scent of the trash on such a hot, cloudless day like this and the white haired scarecrow hefted the drunken chūnin over his shoulder and turned to look at Naruko.

"Come on, let's go take this trash to the Hokage. I'm sure he would love to hear about how his granddaughter took out a chūnin single-handedly."

He gave her his signature single eye-smile, though Naruko could easily see his masked mouth form into an actual smile.

Naruko grinned up at him. "Technically, he was drunk, 'Kashi. I would have never been able to take him out if he wasn't."

Kakashi snorted, "You're underestimating yourself again..." Kakashi wished he could have watched his little sister but at the same time he was glad he didn't. He would have killed the now half-dead man on his shoulder. Beside, he could always get the details from the ANBU he knew were watching Naruko.

Naruko rolled her eyes but followed Kakashi with her hands behind her head, her eyes closed to try and ignore all of the hateful glares she knew she was getting. Naruko could practically _feel_ them piercing her skin and if looks could kill, she would have been dead years ago. Naruko opened her eyes after ten minutes of walking to see them passing the Uchiha compound.

She saw the last clan member, Sasuke, walk out of the tall wooden gates with his typical scowl. His eyes met hers as he stood there. Naruko made a quick decision to fuck with him.

She smirked at Sasuke and it widened when his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Then, she winked at him.

Sasuke's eyes widened to the size of saucers and his cheeks flamed up to the color of a tomato. Naruko snickered quietly to herself and walked in front of Kakashi. Sasuke couldn't say or do anything but stare at the same spot Naruko stood. His cheeks warmed again as he replayed the last thirty seconds in his head.

Only two words escaped Sasuke's lips as he walked the streets to the market, "She's beautiful…"

Naruko fidgeted in her seat in front of the Third Hokage, her grandfather for all intents and purposes. Hiruzen Sarutobi, father to jōnin, Asuma and grandfather to Konohamaru and Naruko, sat back in his seat, shocked. "So you mean to tell me that your sister took out a drunken chūnin that came onto her?"

Kakashi nodded silently, too upset to talk and glared at the unconscious man with his uncovered eye. His glare was so hard; Naruko thought his Sharingan eye would burn through his headband.

Hiruzen coughed into his fist in an attempt to deter Kakashi from furthering his killing intent to past his office.

¤¤¤

The secretary outside of the Hokage's office shivered slightly in fear at the sudden wave of KI casting over her. She briefly wondered if it had anything to do with the knocked out ninja and the Uzumaki girl.

¤¤¤

"I−I'm sorry, Jiji… Really…," Naruko stuttered.

The aged ninja shook his head, sighing. Naruko was worried that he was upset with her but for the first time since she was able to talk, she was glad to be wrong. "You're not in trouble, Naruko," he said softly. "I am just glad you're not hurt…" Hiruzen shifted his eyes to the unconscious chūnin, KI leaking out. "Or worse."

As if he had felt the searing glare, the chūnin groaned and rubbed the back of his head. "Wh-what…?" He opened his eyes and they instantly locked with Naruko's. He never thought to check his surroundings because all he could see was two Narukos wearing shit eating grins. He narrowed his eyes and stood, slightly off balance, wondering why he was seeing double.

Naruko's grin widened as she remembers punching him in the side of his head to throw his equilibrium and sight off. He reached into his kunai pouch and started running towards the two blondes, only to be stopped by Kakashi.

"You take one more step towards her and I swear on _your_ life, you will regret it." The chūnin flinched back at the scarecrow's cold voice and dropped the kunai he was holding. He didn't understand it. Why was he defending her? Kakashi Hatake was one of the strongest ninja the village had. That demon killed the Yondaime Hokage, his sensei! His eyes darted around the room, anywhere to avoid looking at Kakashi. His eyes caught the Sandaime, who was glaring at him harshly and his eyes sped away quickly.

He just didn't get it. She was a demon! She would bring nothing but destruction! "Why are you defending her? She killed the Fourth! Your sensei! Our families are gone because of her! She's a fucking demon bi━"

In the next two seconds, all you could see was a grey blur tackling him to the wall.

"Finish that and it'll be the last word you ever say." That was the first time Naruko ever saw Kakashi lose his cool. Her big brother just had this cool demeanor that made him intimidating and awesome at the same time. Now, seeing him this cold and angry… Naruko's not going to lie, it scared her but it made her happy also. Because he would protect her…

"'Kashi… Kakashi!" Naruko glared at the man being held against the wall by his neck. "Put him down… He's not worth it. Besides, he won't be the only one and you can't protect me from everything."

Naruko didn't need to elaborate to anyone what she meant. Kakashi's uncovered right eye narrowed at his sister's double meaning and nodded. He always wondered how she could be so forgiving… He's known and looked after her since he was an ANBU and her, a baby. As soon as he introduced himself after getting the okay from the Sandaime, Naruko instantly attached herself to his ankle.

Literally. When the two first met, baby Naruko latched onto Kakashi's ankle and refused to let go for an entire hour.

Kakashi tightened his grip around the throat of his sister's threat and suddenly released him, letting the chūnin fall to the floor in a fit of pained coughing. Naruko rolled her eyes at Kakashi's stubbornness. The scarecrow glared at the man on the floor, who in retaliation tried to glare also, but instead gave a look of fear at the jonin. "What are we going to do with him?" His eyes never left the floor.

Hiruzen sighed at took off his Kage's hat as a devious smirk crossed his lips. "Well, the best thing to do now is to send him to Anko and Ibiki… See how they would take to someone messing with her." The chūnin gulped at the famous interrogators' names.

Naruko snickered at his nervousness. She thought those two were awesome. They always had some new way of teaching her how to use a weapon or jutsu. With the Sandaime's permission, Anko and Ibiki taught her the Shadow Clone jutsu because of her unusually high chakra level, which made her normal clones unstable. Naruko quickly learned that it was because of the Kyubbi.

If Jiraiya hadn't come along when he did, she doesn't know what would have happened. Naruko had a family now… A grandfather, a father, a sister, an uncle and two… well, now one older brother… She hoped wherever he was, he better be okay.

¤¤¤

A very good sum of miles away from Konohagakure, a man who had to be around nineteen to twenty years of age, with long black hair, the back portion in a ponytail and crimson red eyes, sneezed. He arched his left brow at the sudden sneeze. _'Naruko must be thinking or talking about me. I hope she's alright…'_

¤¤¤

Naruko shook her head to clear her head and watched as two ANBU appeared from the shadows to take the guard chūnin away. Naruko sighed and looked at the bird and boar masked ANBU holding his arms. "Bird, Boar, tell Anko-nee and Ibiki-oji to at least try not to kill him, please?"

She refused to acknowledge Kakashi's disappointed groan.

The ANBU smirked behind their masks, nodded and replied with a "Of course, Naruko-chan" and Shunshined away, leaving five leaves behind.

Naruko kicked her feet while staring out the window in front of her at the Academy. The elder Sarutobi noticed this and smiled softly. "That's what I meant to tell you. I enrolled you in the Academy. Since you already have extensive training from Jiraiya-kun to be at least mid-chūnin, I made sure to put you in a class that graduates in a month. You start next Monday."

Naruko jumped out of her chair. "Sugoi! You're the best, Hokage-jiji! I gotta tell Jiraiya! Later!" By the time anyone could tell her anything else, Naruko was gone.

Kakashi laughed softly at his sister and turned to the Hokage. "I'll make sure she doesn't get too excited, Hokage-sama." Hiruzen chuckled and shook his head. "She's perfectly fine. Besides, the village is too quiet today anyway."

Kakashi nodded before bowing slightly and Shunshined out of his office, leaving a trail of leaves behind. The Third Hokage turned in his chair and looked out the window to see a blonde blur running through the marketplace.

"You hear that Konoha? I'm gonna be a ninja! One step closer to being Hokage! Yatta!"

Hiruzen laughed at her excitement, but his smile soon shifted into a frown when he heard the shouts of the villagers. How could they crush a child's dream like that? She's done nothing to these ungrateful people but protect them from the Kyubbi! If she really wanted to, Naruko could have destroyed the entire place a long time ago. She should be recognized as a hero, not a danger. The Hokage heard about the other Jinchūriki being ridiculed but didn't think they were treated like this…

The blonde teen dragged Kakashi to every clothing store and equipment store on the way home. Kakashi briefly wondered out loud why Naruko had to be one of the girls who could never make up their minds when they're buying new Academy student then proceeded to hit him over the head. He had a serious migraine the next morning.

"Alright, brat. No pranks, no jokes and no swearing," Jiraiya said sternly. Naruko pouted as she fidgeted with the hem of her new black long-sleeved shirt that proudly wore a red Uzumaki spiral in the middle. Over that Naruko sported an orange sleeveless hoodie. She complemented the top half of her outfit by wearing tight, black ANBU pants and a black belt with orange studs and black shinobi sandals.

"At least not on the first day. Want to make a good impression, don't you?" Naruko looked up at Jiraiya, who was grinning down at her.

She sighed and grinned back. "You scared me there, Jiraiya. Wish me luck?" Jiraiya ruffled her hair and Naruko glared back up at him, trying to fix her ponytail. "Luck, brat."

Naruko turned to the door and heard her name being called.

"Naruko Uzumaki? Naruko Uz━"

At that moment, the hyper blonde channeled Tsunade and kicked the door in, making it hit the wall with fervor, her open hoodie flowing slightly from the sudden gust of wind.

Many thoughts floated through the heads of students and sensei. While all the girls in the room had similar thoughts of who she thought she was to gain the attention of all the boys, they were thoughts of the exact opposite. Some thoughts that stood out consisted of two clan heirs and an avenger.

 _'That's her! The girl that winked at me! Naruko, huh? Now I finally have a name for the face that plagued my thoughts for the past week and a half. She's mine,'_ thought Sasuke.

 _'Wow, she's hot! I wish Shino wasn't sitting next to me… Maybe we'll be on the same team and I'll get her to be my girlfriend!'_ thought the Inuzuka clan heir.

Even the sleeping student in the front row with his black hair spiked into a ponytail managed to wake from his sleep. His eyes widened at the sight of the blonde force, yawned, and then put his head back down. _'I believe this class just got less troublesome…'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yosh, it's getting better, yeah?


	3. The Day Hell Froze Over

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Squad forms

"I believe the only available seat is next to Sasuke Uchiha," said the teacher, whose name Naruko learned was Iruka. He pointed to the obsidian eyed boy with black chin-length hair that had a bluish tint to it, almost making it look like he had highlights. His hair is spiky in the back with bangs that covered his forehead easily.

He was wearing the traditional Uchiha clothing: a black, short-sleeved shirt with a high collar and a large Uchiha crest on the back, black arm and leg warmers and black shinobi sandals.

"Sasuke, could you raise your hand, please?"

The Uchiha tried his hardest not to look eager.

He heard a boy growl behind the desk behind him. Sasuke turned to see a feral looking boy. Kiba Inuzuka. He had messy brown hair, sharp black eyes with vertical slit-like pupils, pronounced canine teeth, and sharp nails that looked like claws. He also had the distinct red fang markings of the Inuzuka clan on his cheeks.

Kiba's attire consisted of dark greyish pants reaching to his calves and a grey, hooded fur-lined coat, with the hood placed on his head and blue sandals.

Sasuke smirked at him as Naruko walked to her new assigned seat. Sasuke saw Kiba's eyes broaden and he wondered what the untamed boy was looking at. The confused Uchiha twisted back around and saw Naruko sitting next to him and smiling.

He gulped silently and tried to think of something to say when a familiar, and in Sasuke's opinion, annoying voice spoke up inside his head. _'Deep, calming breaths, Sasuke! Uchiha's do not panic. They remain cool and collected. We're not one of the drooling idiots in here. We're the best of the best. Now say hello to her, you ass!'_

 **'And here's hoping you don't screw it up…'** Sasuke internally rolled his eyes at the voice.

The raven haired Academy student took a deep breath and smirked confidently. "I'm Sasuke, but you already knew that." The irritating voice came back snorted at his attempt at a pick up line. **'That's the best you could come up with?'**

Naruko snorted inwardly at his attempt to flirt with her.

The Jinchuriki's captive snorted.

Naruko replied sarcastically to Sasuke, "I'm Naruko, but you already knew that." The blonde giggled at Sasuke's face and finished her greeting. "It's nice to meet you, Sasuke."

The raven gave her a small smile in return and faced the front of the room, trying not to blush.

Not being able to focus on the class lesson, Naruko scoped the room.

¤¤¤

On the left half of the classroom, two girls were glaring at the blonde haired student. One girl, sitting at the third to last desk next to a chubby student eating candy, was Ino Yamanaka. Ino is a fair-skinned girl of average height with blue eyes.

The thing Naruko noticed the most about her most noticeable trait in her appearance was her long blonde hair, which was in a high-ponytail with bangs covering the right side of her face.

  
In terms of attire, Ino was wearing a pair of small silver hoop-earrings and purple, fairly revealing clothing. She wore a short purple vest like blouse with a raised collar, a skirt that was cut off on the sides and bandage on her stomach and legs. She also wore purple and white elbow warmers with this.

As to why she was glaring at Naruko, well, Ino was convinced that Sasuke Uchiha is her soul mate... that and she noticed that the new student was more developed than she was. _'I don't know who this bitch thinks she is sitting next to Sasuke-kun. He's mine.'_

At the same time, a girl sitting at the desk directly across from Naruko and Sasuke was seething. The girl had bright pink hair, large green eyes, and fair skin. Sakura wore her bangs over her forehead in an attempt to cover it.

Sakura was wearing a red qipao dress with white circular designs without sleeves, with a zipper and tight dark green shorts. The pink-haired (which some students suspected was a dye until they saw her mother) academy student was Sakura Haruno. And she didn't even try to hide her jealousy.

 **"Great, now we have another blonde big-breasted slut after our Sasuke-kun! We'll show her who he belongs to, cha!"** Inner Sakura shouted.

Naruko's mind started to wander as she looked out the window. She knew everything Iruka was talking about and more. The blonde teenager briefly wondered what kind of team she would be placed on…

¤¤¤

Outside of her mindscape, Naruko's name was called to name a famous jutsu used by a Hokage. Naruko sighed as responded with the first one that came to her mind.

"The Rasengan; created by the Fourth Hokage," Naruko paused to stop herself from saying that he was her father, but recovered so quickly, it was almost unnoticed and finished her answer, "used by himself, Jiraiya of the Sannin, Hatake Kakashi and myself."

 

To say it was totally silent, Naruko bet that she could hear a pen drop in the Hokage Tower, on the top floor. Naruko looked around the soundless classroom to see everyone staring at her. Even the boy sitting next to Ino, by the name of Chōji Akimichi had stopped eating.

_'Oops... I probably shouldn't have said that I could do it too.'_

_**"Damn it, you runt,"**_ Kurama huffed. _**"It's like you don't know that a ninja's best weapon is his secrecy.**_

Naruko's eyes shifted to Sakura, who in return, looked at her rather skeptically. It looked like she was waiting for Naruko to say "Gotcha!".

"You know Jiraiya-sama?" Ino scoffed.

"Yes." Was Naruko's simple answer.

"Like his apprentice? There's no way," another student chimed in.

The teenage girl in question rolled her eyes and turned her head in Sasuke's direction. He had this look of awe, jealousy and… what was that?

 _ **'He likes her…,'**_ thought her prisoner. _**'If that pathetic Uchiha thinks he'd be able to make a move on her, I'll take over and slash his hypnotic eyes out myself.'**_

Naruko rolled her eyes to the ceiling and frowned. "What is so shocking? The fact that Jiraiya is my sensei or the fact that I can use a powerful jutsu only a select few could use?" She asked, in an attempt to save her blunder.

Naruko started to grow irritated when she received no answer and looked past Sasuke's head to look out the window, wanting to go out into the forest to join the animals in their freedom. She developed a close companionship with the animals of Konoha as a child.

Soon, the blonde's boredom took over and she put her head down to sleep.

Iruka finally shook out of shocked stupor and reclaimed his class' attention, going on with the lesson.

¤¤¤

Sasuke could barely focus on said lesson because he was too busy trying to figure out a confusing matter of his own. Switching his eyes back and forth between Iruka and his new classmate, he couldn't help but think, _'Why does she look so familiar to me?'_

The raven-haired boy continued to ask himself this question. Soon enough, he was having a battle of wits in his head between himself and a counterpart to his brooding personality who Sasuke deemed, Sasu.

The reason behind the name was because of his brother calling him that on a daily basis. When the Uchiha asked who he was, the imaginary boy practically demanded that he should be named Sasu. So Sasuke obliged.

Sasu was much like his outer counterpart, except while he was sarcastic and snarky like Sasuke, he was much happier. And in Sasu's case, smarter. He thought with a more level headed mind. Sasu had been stuck inside of Sasuke's ever since the _Incident._

He too, was angry, but unlike Sasuke, he knew his own _brother_ wouldn't kill his entire family for strength. Even since that day, more and more happy thoughts were pushed to the back of the heir's mind, creating Sasu.

The cheerful clone right now, was trying to make Sasuke see memories from when he was a child to answer his question.

_'She just looks so familiar… Where have I seen her?'_

Sasu rolled his eyes at the idiotic question and sighed. _**'Why does he always have to be so fucking clueless? Some Rookie of the Year. Kami-sama, if you can hear me, please grant me the power to cure him of his stupidity.'**_

It was then Sasuke felt as if someone had slapped the back of his head. The Uchiha jumped and turned around to the student behind him, Kiba.

Said student picked up his head, feeling someone's eyes on him. Kiba looked down to the seat below him, his eyes locked with Sasuke's. "What are you staring at, _Uchiha_?" Kiba asked, hissing out his last name. "Finally realized you're a bender? I don't know if you've noticed, but I happen to like girls." The Inuzuka heir's voice changed slightly as he looked at the back of Naruko's head. "Especially the angel you got lucky enough to sit next to, by the grace of Kami herself. Now turn the fuck around," finished Kiba, putting his head back down, making the rest of his sentence muffled.

Sasuke gave him a glare that a gargoyle would be afraid of. But in his head, he briefly wondered why he looked so familiar also. He had never really given Kiba any actual thought until today. Before Sasuke thought about it any further, his irritation won. "You should be so lucky that she even _speaks_ to you, you filthy−"

That was all Sasuke could get out before Iruka called for lunch. The students raced out of the classroom, no doubt going to blab to their friends in other classes about what they heard.

  
Sasuke glared at Kiba as the boy jumped up, running out the room with his dog, Akamaru, in tow. He finally turned around to see Naruko still here with her head down, sleeping.

"Sasuke, Naruko. Lunch."

The boy looked up to the front of the room to the voice, Iruka.  
Sasuke nodded and brought his gaze back down on Naruko. He shook her shoulder in an attempt to wake the girl. When she didn't, Sasuke did so again only harder, making her grumble and pick up her head.

"Wha happen?" Naruko asked sleepily. Sasuke smirked at how cute her voice sounded. _'Cute?'_

"It's time for lunch," the raven answered. He watched as a faint blush covered her cheeks. _'Wow, she's really cute… No, no! What good would it do to have a crush on her? I need to get over it now or it'll never go away. Itachi will just swoop in and take another precious person from me…'_

Sasuke was shook out of his inner musings by Naruko's question. "Sorry, what did you say?"

"I asked if I could sit with you. If that's alright…" Naruko answered, albeit shyly.

Sasuke stood from his chair and walked away from the desk, stopping short when he hears a rejected whine coming from behind him. He turned around and smirked at Naruko, asking her whether she was coming. Naruko jumped from her seat and followed the quiet boy.

The heir led Naruko to a lone table that was positioned right outside the edge of the west end of the forest. And much to Sasuke's dismay, where a ton of girls were waiting for his arrival. He rolled his eyes, slightly worried that Naruko would think badly of him.

The girl plaguing his thoughts stopped finishing her path to the table and grabbed Sasuke's wrist to do the same. Naruko noticed a faint blush cover Sasuke's cheeks and briefly thought that it looked out of place on his beautifully pale face. She dropped his arm and tried to rid her head of such thoughts.

"Uh, Sasuke? What's the deal with all those girls glaring at me like I should be six feet under?" the blond asked.

"Um... they um… they all like me, are freaking delusional and follow me wherever I go!" Sasuke rushed out.

Much to his surprise, Naruko instantly burst out laughing. "Wha…They all… l-like you! You… have… a fan… club!" she breathed out around her laughter. Sasuke scowled at her and bumped her with his shoulder. "It's not funny! You try being stalked every single day by crazy people!"

Naruko stifled her laughter and tried to apologize. "S-sorry…"

"Hn." That was all her new friend gave her in response.

"We'll just have to sit at another table, then. No matter." Naruko grabbed Sasuke's wrist once more and dragged him over to a table that was on the edge of the east end of the forest, where three boys were sitting.

"N-naruko, I don't exactly think ━" The struggling boy instantly shut up at the glare Naruko gave him.

"Would you rather sit with them or with the rabid fangirls?"

It took no time for Sasuke as he answered with a quick, "No fangirls!"

Naruko snorted at his frightened statement and pulled him to the table. The two out of three the boys sitting there, stared in astonishment at who decided to join them. The last however, was indeed sleeping.

All Naruko could see was that he had his black hair done up into a short, spiky ponytail and was that he was wearing a green lined mesh shirt with a short-sleeved grey jacket that was green on the edges.

"Oi! Shikamaru! Wake up!" yelled a tan boy with white dog on top of his head. He jabbed him in the side with his elbow in attempt to wake the boy newly named Shikamaru.

Shikamaru grunted at him and slowly lifted his head from the wooden table to glare at tanned boy. "What is it, Kiba?"

"Look who's sitting at our table! Say hello!" exclaimed the boy, Kiba, who was pointing directly at Naruko.

Half asleep, Shikamaru looked at Naruko and inclined his head towards her. "Shikamaru Nara. Nice to meet you." He didn't notice that he had done it, but the shadow user winked at her before putting his head back down. Sasuke glared at the Nara heir and grunted in pain from Naruko thrust her elbow in his ribs.

Kiba looked at Naruko and grinned suggestively. "I'm Kiba Inuzuka. Next in line to be clan head after my older sister steps down."

He wrapped an arm around the portly boy next to him that wore what looked like pair of underwear on his head with tufts of brown hair sticking out on either side. A white shirt with the kanji for "food" on it, over which was a short-sleeved green jacket and a white scarf around his neck.

"This here is Choji Akimichi. Next in line to be clan head," Kiba finished. Choji grinned at both Naruko and Sasuke, accidentally showing what looked like to be cheese puff residue on his teeth and went straight back to eating. Sasuke stared at Choji what looked to be disgusted awe. _'How could anyone eat so much? And no manners what so ever!'_

"I'm Naruko Uzumaki! I'm gonna be the best ninja ever," she cried out. She nudged Sasuke with her arm and grinned. "You all must already know each other, so there's no point introducing Sasuke here."

The group excluding Shikamaru, who was still asleep and Sasuke, who simply didn't want to talk to who he aptly, in his case, named the clan rejects. Kiba and Shikamaru were both tied for dead-last because all they did was sleep, though he knew that the Nara clan was famous for their intelligence. And Choji because all he did was eat. He understood the concepts on the Akimichi clan for their bodies saving the calories they eat for chakra. But all the time? It was disgusting to him how someone would want to do that. They may be the physically strongest clan, but that's all they had.

Sasuke sighed silently to himself out of boredom and hunger. He bent over and picked up the brown bag that had his lunch inside. The raven sat back up, pulling a bento box out of the bag. As he pulled his chopsticks apart, he noticed that they made too much noise, seeing as he was surrounded by four other people…

He looked around to see, that no one was sitting at the wooden table no longer. Had everyone left? Sasuke looked over his shoulder and saw groups of kids sitting at other tables. Why did they leave him here?

Maybe they left because they noticed that he didn't want to be there. He sighed and lifted the lid to his bento box, slightly licking his lips at the lunch he had made last night. Sasuke began to eat, giving himself a small smile as he at peacefully for the first time since he started the Academy.

  
It was all thanks to Naruko really. If she hadn't dragged him away from his favorite table, he'd be surrounded by the annoying cloud of girls that followed him everywhere. More specifically, that weakling Sakura Haruno, the Yamanaka heir, Ino and their incessant bickering.

Sasuke hated how they just flocked to him and invaded his personal space. It was like they didn't know he was ignoring them!

The raven haired boy continued to eat peacefully when he was suddenly yanked back into the trees.

¤¤¤

Sasuke groaned around some type of cloth that was tied over his mouth. He struggled to sit up, squirming on the forest floor trying to untie what felt like rope from around his hands.

He blinked a few times to find out that someone had tied a blindfold over his eyes as well. _'What the hell is going on? D-did Itachi come back for me or something?'_

Sasuke proceeded to sit up when a sudden weight appeared on his chest. He swore he could hear stifled laughter as he struggled to get up. It felt like the immense weight was going to crush him when it was suddenly lifted. Sasuke sighed in relief when the offensive burden disappeared and took in large gulps of air.

"Hehe, nice one Choji." Choji? Was that Naruko? Sasuke felt someone untie the encumbrance that was the rope around his hands.

He shot up from the ground so fast that he ended up hitting his head on a low tree branch, knocking Sasuke back on the ground. At this point, he could count at least four voices laughing at his expense. The teenager turned to the noise and scowled at the laughter, only to spur it on and make it grow louder.

"Kiba, take the blindfold and scarf off of him." It is Naruko! What the hell is she doing with these idiots?

"Aw, do I have to?" asked the boy. Sasuke heard a girlish giggle and what must have been a silent conformation to his question for he could finally see again. He always hated that he could never see his surroundings. Some odd trait from being an Uchiha, he guessed.

Sasuke jumped up to his feet and glared at the group in front of him.

"What the fuck was all that about?" he yelled. Shikamaru smirked while Kiba had to brace himself against a tree since he was laughing so hard.

Naruko giggled. "We just wanted to get back at you for ignoring us. And we were bored." She batted her eyelashes at Sasuke and gave him a puppy dog pout. "I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun…" The Uchiha gulped as a deep blush covered his cheeks. _'She really is pretty… NO! I-I can't… Wow, her eyes are beautiful…'_ Sasuke accidentally zoned out thanks to his musing, ignoring the faint calls for his attention.

His thoughts shattered as he was slapped across the face. "OI! Sasuke-teme!" shouted Naruko. Sasuke glared at the offending hand that was still raised. "Why the fuck did you do that?"

  
Naruko rolled her eyes at his question and muttered, "Baka."

The raven grunted, ignoring the remark and left the woods with his four captors following him while laughing.

The boy at the brunt of their amusement stopped short, causing Naruko to crash into him and Kiba, Shikamaru and Choji close behind. "Sasuke, what's wrong?" asked Choji.

"F-f-fangirls…" he whispered.

"Uh-oh, it looks like they're out for blood… C'mon Shika, Choji! Later you two!" yelled Kiba. Before Naruko or Sasuke could catch them, they were already gone.

As the two looked back at the offending group, both Ino and Sakura were close enough to make Sasuke feel like he was suffocating. "Sasuke- _kun_ , what are you doing with _her_?" Ino asked distained.

The Uchiha glared at her and Naruko smirked from behind him when Ino actually flinched. "She asked to eat lunch with me and I agreed. Unlike you all."

Sakura on the other hand, disregarded Sasuke's jab at them and held even tighter on his arm. "Oh, Sasuke-kun, you're so sweet to humor her!" she exclaimed. Sasuke swore he could see hearts in her eyes. He shuddered slightly, but of course no one noticed except Naruko.

Naruko laughed softly from behind him as the flock of girls surrounded him, as if to protect him from her. She snorted at their ignorance and the shouts of how much they love him and snuck around the group to go back inside.

Although the laugh was practically silent, it was loud enough to Sasuke that it felt like she was right next to him. He watched as Naruko re-entered the building from the crowd of girls. A deep frown etched onto Sasuke's face and shook the tight grips on his arms free. He walked slowly back to the classroom, trying to tune out the voice of teenage girls clamoring behind him.  
He knew something like this would happen.

Naruko probably thought him nothing short of some pervert who used girls. Sasuke thought it was quite strange to feel guilty like this. And only after just half a day over a girl he barely knew, but it faintly felt like something pulled him to her and it was as if he'd known her for years.


	4. Team Selection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sakura tries too hard

The rest of the month passed by and the ragtag group of Kiba, Choji, Shikamaru, Naruko and Sasuke grew close quite quickly, surprising everyone. Sasuke even more, as he never allowed himself to get close to anyone. After the day Kiba and Shikamaru call 'The Day Hell Froze Over,' Sasuke being sociable was not the only surprising thing.

Kiba, for instance, worked more on his temper by meditating with Naruko and Sasuke and studied up on jutsu he could do that didn't involve Akamaru in case his canine friend was out of action.

Shikamaru stayed awake in class more often, which was a feat in itself.

With Sasuke's advice and sensitivity, Choji managed to abandon the useless calories and carbohydrates in junk food and now sticks with much healthier food, eating sweets only in moderation.

He was still trying to figure out what draws him to Naruko.

What's more strange, Sasuke now finds himself growing to Kiba as well. He never liked the Inuzuka before, so why now, after Naruko shows up? Why now, after taijutsu matches of Kiba getting angry for being beaten and Sasuke smirking over him? Slowly but surely in just one week, Sasuke realized he didn't really care.

In fact, he considers the two to be his best friends.

Sasuke and Kiba would butt heads, making Naruko would break it up. Or Naruko and Kiba would argue and Sasuke would separate them. Then they would joke with one another a half hour later.

  
The Uchiha quickly took his shower and got dressed for bed. As anyone could notice, he was excited for the next day because on Friday, it was finally time to assign teams.

Not that he would tell anyone he was excited.

¤¤¤

_Friday_

"Alright, everyone, quiet down," said Iruka.

Ino and Sakura are standing on the stairs arguing about who would be on the same team as Sasuke. They were loud enough to drown out the rest of the class with their 'Sasuke is Kami' talk.  
"You guys, listen up!"

Then Naruko and Kiba started their own fight about who had the best taijutsu form.

Iruka clenched his jaw and bellowed with his famous _**Big-Headed Jutsu**._ **"ENOUGH."**

Not only did the class stop talking, they stopped moving, breathing and even thinking.

"Thank you. Now it's finally time to assign teams," he started. The whole class let out a roaring cheer, with Kiba throwing in a loud "Finally!"

"Okay, okay. Now the teams are ordered in formation of the student with the highest score of that group, the student with the average score and the student with the lowest. But before we get to that, I have the results of the Top Kunoichi and the Rookie of the Year…," Iruka sorted through the envelopes he put on his desk. He pulled out a single sheet from a brown envelope, his eyes widening in surprise. "For Top Kunoichi: Naruko Uzumaki with Sakura Haruno as the runner up. And for Rookie of the Year: …Shikamaru Nara with Sasuke Uchiha as his runner up."

There was a total uproar. The boys and some of the girls were cheering for Naruko; the girls knew that she was really smart and didn't really like Sakura, while the boys just cheered for Naruko because they thought she was hot.

Sakura stayed in her seat, steaming without a word. When some of the students took a glance at her, they were shocked to see that she wasn't shouting. Up in the top right corner of the room, Naruko was grinning while leaning back against the wall in her seat.

When Iruka announced Shikamaru as Rookie of the Year, the cheering died down. Shikamaru Nara, the laziest boy ever? Not Sasuke? At this, Sakura jumped up and reminded everyone what she was known for.

"WHAT?! HOW?! He never does anything! Sasuke deserved to be Rookie of the Year, he's the best!" She didn't seem to register that she was just the runner up. In Sakura's reality, she just assumed that Iruka made a mistake.

Everyone covered their ears, struggling to block out the screeching that came from the twelve year old girl. _'How can someone so small make so much noise?'_ They all thought.

Iruka cleared his throat into his hand, attempting to get everyone back on track. "Sakura, sit down and be quiet. If you would have allowed me to finish, you would know that Shikamaru has really picked up all his slack. He turned in all his missing work and completed his unfinished papers, catching up with us quite quickly. Unsurprisingly, he's the smartest boy in the school, obviously his father's son. Sasuke would have won if Shikamaru had stayed unmotivated as he was month ago. Now, Team One will consist of…"

Slowly, the kid-filled classroom dwindled down to a group of nine.

"Team Seven will be Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, −"

"YES! True love prevails all!" shouted Sakura. The remaining nine students rolled their eyes, sighing exasperatedly. Sasuke dropped his head to his desk, mumbling about the unfairness of the universe.

Iruka cleared his throat, ignoring Sakura's unsurprising outburst. "− and Naruko Uzumaki. Your sensei is Kakashi Hatake."

The only male member of Team Seven offered his fist under the desk and Naruko bumped it with her own, grinning as she kept her eyes on the front of the room. Kiba glowered at the back of Sasuke's head and growled softly to himself.

"Team Eight is Hinata Hyuuga, Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame; your sensei is Kurenai Yuhi, and Team Nine is already in circulation, so finally with keeping tradition, Team Ten will be Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka and Choji Akimichi and your sensei will be Asuma Saratobi," Iruka finished.

Kiba sighed as he petted the bundle of fur − Akamaru − on top of his head. He jumped up out of his seat, dug into his pocket and flicked one of Akamaru's treats at the back of Sasuke's head. The Uchiha's hand shot into the air, catching the dog treat and returned it. Kiba ducked slightly, letting Akamaru catch it in his mouth. The small dog yipped happily as he snuggled into Kiba's hood.

Shino, a boy with slightly shaggy black hair that wore a tan coat with its collar covering his mouth and blue shinobi shorts, pushed up his sunglasses slightly. "Shall we go then?" He was standing with their other teammate Hinata at the door. Like Kiba and Shino, she was also wearing a coat; a light indigo shade. Again, like the both of them, she had her indigo hair cut short so it wouldn't get in the way. Hinata kept her trademark milky lavender eyes to the floor.

For quite some time, Hinata had looked up to Naruko for her courage. Ever since she saw Naruko stand up to a group of bullies who were told by their parents that she was a dangerous monster... The blonde four year old refused to take any of their ridiculing and beat up a boy twice her size and age... Hinata had never seen anything like it. So when Naruko enrolled a month earlier, Hinata was ecstatic. Sadly, because of her shyness, she didn't have the heart to speak to her.

The blonde briefly wondered why the two were the only ones who never really talked with the other kids. She had seen them sit with each other, but never talked. Kiba nodded solemnly and followed the bug user out the door.

A yawn resounded from the front of the classroom.

"'Bout time you woke up, Shika," Choji said from behind his mouthful of strawberries. The pineapple-haired boy grunted and stood from his chair, put his hands behind his head and walked out the door. Choji snorted at Shikamaru's lack of concern and followed. Staring after her new teammate's attitudes, Ino got up to tag along, but not before fixing a glare on Sakura.

¤¤¤

_One hour later…_

"Where is he?!" Sakura huffed. "He can't be a very successful jōnin if he's a whole hour late, right Sasuke?" She turned to Sasuke, who was standing against the wall opposite the classroom door with Naruko. She gnashed her teeth together from how close they're standing. How dare she steal Sasuke away from her?

"This is unbelievable. How are we going to get anything done if our sensei can't be on time?" Naruko thought out loud, pretending that she didn't really know Kakashi that well. Sasuke snickered softly at her bad acting.

Sakura was so jealous that Sasuke wasn't paying attention to her; she decided to show off her "ninja" skills. She swiftly walked to the janitor's closet down the hall, snatched a bucket from the confining room and filled it with water. She ran back to the classroom and pulled a chair under the door. Sakura tiptoed on top of the chair and pushed the bucket on top. Satisfied, she jumped down to look at her work.

"…Um, Sakura? I don't think Kakashi's gonna fall for that," Naruko stage whispered from behind her ear.

Sakura jumped. _'When did she get behind me?'_ She shook off her surprise. "Back off. How would you know? Besides, this is what he gets for being late."

"She's right, Sakura," Sasuke finally spoke. "A jōnin like Kakashi would never fall for something as childish as this."

But to no avail, the bubblegum haired genin paid no attention to Sasuke − sounds odd, doesn't it? − reprimanding her. In fact, all she could think about was that her name fell from his lips.

 **"This is the second smartest girl in the school?"** Sasu asked. **"Don't waste your time with this one."** Sasuke shook his head as he watched Sakura fix the door so the bucket falls in the right direction.

_'Proving I can fool a jōnin will definitely make Sasuke-kun like me.'_

"Sakura, it's not gonna work. Kakashi's a genius," Naruko tried to reason with her. What she didn't realize, was how admirable she sounded.

Sasuke clenched his jaw slightly at her tone. _'Brother figure or not…'_

"You should listen to her."

The pink and black-haired genin stilled.

"Kakashi-sensei! You're late!" Naruko scolded. She almost said 'again', but quickly caught herself.

"Gomen… A black cat crossed my path so I had to take the long way around," said Kakashi, rubbing the back of his head. With that said, the white-haired scarecrow looked around the classroom before settling his lone eye down on the three genin he was assigned to. 'Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha and my little sister…' Kakashi could feel the excitement pouring off of Naruko; from Sasuke, he felt pride, excitement and… jealousy?

Nothing but nervousness rolling off of Sakura.

"My first impression of you three? …Pathetic. Meet me on the roof."

The genin blinked at his bluntness. The next second, nothing was left but three leaves falling to the floor.

"Pathetic, huh? C'mon, Sasuke. Let's go show him how _pathetic_ we are," Naruko growled, grabbing her friend's hand.

Sasuke followed, blushing subconsciously. He quickly shook it off, of course. He didn't want anyone to know that he liked her.

No one.

Sakura watched as her 'soul mate' trailed after Naruko. _'What is so special about her?'_

Up on the roof, the three genin met with their new sensei.

Assessing his team again, Kakashi sat on the metal railing surrounding the top of the building. He clapped his hands together and gave his famous one eyed smile to put everyone at ease. "Now, first order of business, how about you introduce yourselves?"

Wondering how, Sakura asked, "How about you give us an example, sensei?"

The jōnin shrugged his shoulder, seeing no harm in the innocent question. "Alright… My name is Kakashi Hatake. My dream is… classified. My hobbies are… none of your business. What I like is… a secret. And my dislikes are… confidential."

Naruko and Sasuke snorted in unison while Sakura just looked clueless. _'All he told us was his name.'_

"So... Pinky, let's start with you."

Sakura's clueless look was quickly replaced with a happy one as she took his suggestion. "Okay! My name is Sakura Haruno… My dream is…" She looked over at Sasuke. The Uchiha felt her eyes on him and stepped farther away even though Naruko was the one between them. "My hobbies are…"

She looked at Sasuke again. " _Who_ I like is…"

She looked at Sasuke _again_ , but this time she giggled.

"Your dislikes…?" Kakashi asked blandly.

Sakura's eyes flashed angrily as she ground out a "Naruko and Ino-pig!" from between her teeth.

The first-mentioned blonde let out another snort and crossed her arms. "Surprise, surprise," she muttered.

The gray haired jōnin nodded silently then pointed to Sasuke. _'Rabid fangirl… I thought Sasuke and Naruko were just exaggerating…'_ "You're next."

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. My dream is… to kill a certain person and restore my clan. My hobbies are training and hanging out with my friends. I like reading, looking up family jutsu and my friends." — _'And Naruko.'_ Kakashi interposed from his thoughts. — "My dislikes are Naruko's unhealthy obsession with ramen,—"

"It's food created by Kami himself!" she interjected.

Sasuke just arched his left eyebrow and continued as if he didn't hear her. "—people who don't take their training seriously and _perverts_." He smirked slightly at Kakashi, who suddenly found a ladybug on the concrete ground captivating.

"Naruko, if you would finish us off…," the jōnin mumbled behind his mask.

"Finally! My name is Naruko Uzumaki! My dream is to become Hokage! My hobbies are training and pranking. I like ramen, Hokage-jiji's stories, Sasuke-kun, Shika-kun, Kiba-kun, Choji-kun, Hokage-jiji, Jiraiya and bunch of other people. My dislikes are the three minutes it takes to make instant ramen, kunoichi who don't take themselves or their professions seriously, people who are afraid of what they don't understand and _super-perverts_."

¤¤¤

A loud sneeze overcame the women's section of the hot springs.

"PERVERT!"

A few seconds later, a single girlish scream disrupted the birds resting peacefully in the trees.

¤¤¤

The scream was so loud it returned to the group of four.

Kakashi sighed as he stood, turned around and prepared to jump off the railing to the smaller building under him. "Come to Training Ground Seven at 8:00. And don't eat breakfast; you'll just throw it back up."

Shuddering at his nonchalant attitude, the three genin got ready to depart as well. Sakura turned to talk to Sasuke, but before she could even get a word out, he was already gone, along with Naruko, taking the same route of escape as their new sensei.

"So what do you think he's going to have us do?" asked Sasuke as the two walked to the park to meet the rest of their friends.

"How would I know? I've tried to get it out of him but he won't spill," shrugged Naruko.

  
Sasuke grunted softly, effectively ending the conversation as the walked to the jungle gym. Naruko climbed up the jungle gym, flipped over the top bar and held herself up by the back of her knees.

"So I've been thinking—," Kiba started while he leaned against the metal structure.

"Did it hurt?" Sasuke quipped. He followed Naruko up the jungle gym but instead sat on top.

Shikamaru snorted softly.

Scowling, Kiba finished his thought, "Now that we're genin, I thought that maybe we should meet one day of the week training as a group; sparring and stuff like that."

Shikamaru nodded in approval. "That's not a bad idea. And it should be on Sunday; since that's typically the day ninja have the day off."

"So should it be just us? Or everyone?" Choji asked, eating the remaining potato chips from their bag.

"No…," Naruko answered. "I'll admit; it would be easier if it was just us but everyone could use more training. It won't be mandatory either. They should come because they want to," she added.

Four-fifths of the group surmised that since Sasuke hadn't said anything the entire conversation, he had no objections. "So where is it going to be?" he finally asked.

"We could use the one training ground everyone is too afraid to use," Naruko grinned devilishly.

Sasuke inched away from her discreetly as well and far as he could. "You don't mean Training Ground Forty-Four…?"

"The Forest of Death?! That place is dangerous! We could get killed!" Choji fretted. Naruko waved her hand, dismissing the warning. "I've been there plenty of times. It's not all it's cracked up to be." The boys blinked, unable to believe that anyone could stay in there long enough to breathe; let alone train.

"It's the perfect place; no one would ever imagine a group of green genin could handle the Forest of Death…," Shikamaru said. Naruko grinned, pulled herself up and jumped of the jungle gym.

"Then it's settled! Next Sunday, we start our training at Training Ground Forty-Four! Since I've already been in there so often the animals there are pretty comfortable around me."

"But how will we get in?" Kiba wondered. Naruko gave a foxy grin to which Kiba blushed. "No need to be concerned, Kiba. You and Choji just bring the food. Shika, Sasuke and I will worry about that."

 _'How did I get roped into this?'_ Sasuke and Shikamaru sweatdropped.

¤¤¤

The next morning, the bright sun woke Sasuke before his alarm clock could.

He shot of bed and to the bathroom. He just barely remembered that today was the test that would proved whether he could stay a genin.

After finishing his morning routine, Sasuke was just about to take his leave when he saw a black haired man in a black cloak sitting in one of the chairs in the dining room. Sasuke flattened himself against the wall that made half the entrance to the room. He peeked around the corner and narrowed his eyes. He stepped the closer to get a better look.

Sasuke gritted his teeth as he forced his nervous heart to slow.

It couldn't be him.

It can't be.

He wasn't ready to face him yet… Maybe that's why he was here… But wouldn't he want a challenge?

 _'Please no,'_ Sasuke thought. _'Not here, not now…'_ Then he straightened out of his position.

Why was he acting like a scared little kid? He wasn't seven anymore.

Sasuke steeled himself and reached for his pack of shuriken on his left leg. He took careful arm at the figure's back; the top of the spine, specifically. But as the shuriken soared through the air, the figure swiftly and unfortunately moved out of the way, the ninja star implanting itself in the wall.  
Sasuke felt the chakra around him shift.

_'Genjutsu…'_

And then it was gone.

Sasuke punched wall behind him then looked at the one in the dining room where the shuriken stuck. One the opposite blade, a piece of paper was attached.

He snatched the paper off and read:

_**Congratulations, little brother.** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The proper age group for everyone: the Konoha Nine should range between 15 and 16 with... Kiba being the oldest, I believe. Including Team Nine (who are a year older), Neji is, obviously, the oldest out of all twelve of them.


	5. Team Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sakura's just struggling now

Naruko blinked sleepily as she crawled out of bed. Her sapphire eyes passed over the calendar hanging above her desk at the same time she walked out her bedroom door. She stopped short and spun around, snatching the calendar off the wall.

"Yes!"

Jiraiya jumped slightly from the dining room table but continued to eat his breakfast.

"She's awake…," Kakashi muttered.

"You better get out of here before she gives you hell for not being on time," Jiraiya suggested.

Kakashi nodded and shrugged on his vest followed by using the Shunshin to leave the house, leaving sparks of lightning behind.

The blonde streaked between the bathroom and her bedroom, preparing for the test that would decide whether she could become a genin. Naruko stopped in her room one more time to look at herself in her full length mirror.

She pulled her long, shaggy hair up into a ponyail, making sure to keep her golden locks out of the way, and tied the end with an orange ribbon. Naruko grinned slightly at the top of her head. It refused to lay down no matter how hard or how many times she brushed, stuck up in all directions forcing her to look like she just rolled out of bed. Not that she minded. Being a kunoichi was more about skill than looks.

She first wrapped bandages around her ankles before dressing herself. She put on a black long-sleeved fishnet shirt with a solid orange high collared shirt on top. She tugged on her black elbow guards and then her finger less gloves that had metal plating over the back of the hand and metal guards around the base of her fingers.

She was wearing a special pair of black ANBU pants that had a red Uzumaki symbol embroidered on the front of the left leg. She had bandages wrapped around her right thigh — a kunai holder over it — and a shuriken hostler on the left. Putting on her new black vest that had Konoha's leaf embroidered on the back in orange — of course — Naruko joined her outfit together with a pair of black sandals and tied her black headband around her left bicep.

Satisfied, Naruko bounded down the stairs to the kitchen. She was reaching for two granola bars when Jiraiya appeared behind her.

"You know Kakashi said not to eat breakfast."

Naruko wasn't bothered by her godfather's sudden presence for she, Kakashi and Jiraiya would always try to surprise the other to keep them on their toes. She took the granola bars anyways and shrugged, "I never listened to him before, why start now?" Jiraiya snorted and ruffled his goddaughter's hair, to which she reciprocated by swatting his hand away.

"Now, there's word of suspicious construction in Rice Country so I'll have to leave the village for a while to check it out. Have fun."

Naruko grinned, hugged Jiraiya tightly before doing some very similar hand signs. She disappeared and left behind red sparks of lightning instead of blue.

Sasuke stared at the note as he leaned against the trunk of a tree. He had arrived a whole hour earlier to Training Ground Seven, mainly because he didn't want — _couldn't be_ — in that… graveyard (as he called it) any longer. Sasuke realized he could have gotten something to eat, but decided against it when he remembered Kakashi's warning. He knew he should tell someone about what happened but his pride wouldn't allow it. _'Just imagine it, the last Uchiha can't even defend himself against a home invasion…,'_ he thought.

He stuffed the note into his back pocket and watched as the sun rose, marking the time as 8:00. He desperately hoped Naruko would get here soon, but his hopes were crushed as he watched a certain bubblegum-haired girl skip to his resting place. Sasuke rolled his eyes when Sakura grinned at him.

"Sasuke-kun!" she squealed, pleased to finally have him alone. "Look's like we're the first ones here, huh? Naruko can't even be on time…," she criticized.

"No, we aren't," Sasuke grunted.

"Huh?" Sakura tilted her head to the side.

"We are not," he sighed.

"We are not, what?"

Sasuke's left eye twitched and pointed up to the tree above them. There was Kakashi, sitting casually on the branch. He easily jumped down as well as giving Sasuke an approving eye-smile. "Good job, Sasuke. Even though I only hid my chakra signature to that of a low-leveled chūnin, you still managed to notice I was here. Impressive." He turned to Sakura and gave a disappointed sigh. "I'm surprised that you didn't even sense there was someone else here, Sakura. Your record said that you had a low chakra reserve. Ninja with low chakra levels are pretty good at sensing others. I'll have to work with you on that."

Sakura's shoulders slumped as she cast her eyes to the ground.

"Well, that's odd… Naruko isn't here; I thought she'd be the first one," Kakashi wondered. For the second time, Sakura's eyes flashed angrily. _'Why is everyone always worried about her?'_

Kakashi's ears caught a faint rustling in the branches about him. He sidestepped to the right and watched as Naruko jumped from the tree, landing in his previous place. She looked up to him and narrowed her eyes. "You're early… What have you done with our sensei?"

"Maa, Naruko… I just thought you would want me to be on time…," Kakashi comforted, raising his hands in surrender.

"Oh. That's okay then…"

"Now that we've gotten all of the formalities out of the way, your test is simple," Kakashi started. He dug into his pocket and pulled out two bells attached to strings. "All you have to do is take these from me; one for both of you." He smirked beneath his mask.

 _"Both of us?_ " Sasuke inquired.

"Exactly. You three come at me with everything you've got. The first two to get the bells move on… while the last gets sent back to the Academy. You have until noon to get the bells. The loser gets tied to that post over there," he pointed to the middle of the field. There it was; a wooden post about five feet tall; it had a clock sitting on top of it. "And gets to watch the rest of us eat lunch."

"That's why you told us not to eat breakfast!" Sakura exclaimed. **"Yes! This is the perfect time to make a fool of that baka, Naruko!"** Inner Sakura shouted.

Kakashi nodded and pulled out a small orange book.

While he was invested in his por— _literature_ , Kakashi snapped his fingers, which the genin took as a signal to start the test.

The three divided among the trees, waiting for the perfect time to strike.

Naruko tapped her foot on the branch she was standing on. She couldn't overcome the fact that there was something strange about this. _'There has to be some kind of catch… I remember Kakashi telling me that my dad pulled the same trick with the same test… Why only two bells? Kakashi wouldn't try to pit us against each other like that… Would he…?'_ She snapped her fingers then flinched as she saw Kakashi flicker his eye in her direction; the south-west end of the field. She decided to abandon her position and leapt from branch to branch, tree to tree, in search of Sasuke.

She finally found him looking at Kakashi from the north end of the field.

"Sasuke!" she whispered. When he didn't respond, she moved to the branch behind him. "Sasuke!"

The boy turned and glared at her, pressing his finger to his lips then beckoned her forward. "What?"

"Isn't it obvious what we have to do?" Naruko rolled her eyes when Sasuke shrugged his shoulder. Afterward, he blinked and slapped his forehead. "There's never been a two genin team…," he realized.

"Exactly. Now all we have to do is find Sakura and convince her to work with us, well, me anyway," Naruko wondered.

"I'll worry about that. Now I have an idea…"

¤¤¤

Sasuke's eyes darted through the trees as he sought out Sakura. His trained eyes caught a glimpse of pink down in a bush on the surface of the training ground. " **Could she have picked a more noticeable hiding spot?"** Sasu grumbled. For one of the very few times, Sasuke agreed with his happier persona. He jumped down to the shrubbery and smirked slightly when Sakura yelped quietly.

"Sasuke!" she beamed. Sasuke pressed his finger to her lips and shook his head. "How would you like to help me get those bells from Kakashi and leave Naruko in the dust?" If Sakura's grin was any wider, she would have split her face. Sasuke gave her a small smirk. "The only problem is that we have to work with her for the time being. You understand, right?"

Sakura nodded happily and followed her crush through the trees.

While this was happening, Naruko was down on the field, standing in front of Kakashi. The scarecrow's eye peeked over his and arched his eyebrow.

"What?" he asked.

"What the hell do you mean, 'what'?" Naruko shouted. "I'm here to get those bells from you!"

 _'There's no way she didn't figure out the actual reason for the test…,_ ' Kakashi thought. Outwardly, he sighed and turned a page in his book. "Go."

Naruko's eye twitched. _'Damn that book.'_ She charged at Kakashi head on, left fist in the air, knowing full well that he would dodge to the right. When he did, she countered with her right fist and knocked Kakashi's book right out of his hand. It soared through the air and landed by the wooden post in the middle of the field. She could have sworn that she heard him whimper as it hit the ground.

"Fine then. If that's the way you want it…," Kakashi sighed again. He crouched slightly and nodded at Naruko.

She copied his nod and charged towards him again, stooped down and swept her left leg under him. Kakashi jumped in the air to dodge the kick and performed his own, his left foot set towards her head. Naruko swerved to the left and grabbed his foot with both hands, preparing to spin him around. Kakashi sent chakra to his foot and pushed himself out of her hand, catching her in the chest with his right foot and shoved her backwards. He spun and executed a back handspring to set himself right again and carried out a right hook to her ribs.

Sakura and Sasuke watched from the west part of the training ground.

 _'She's actually pretty good…,'_ Sakura thought.

Sasuke smirked as he observed his best friend and teacher fight. He watched as Naruko kept Kakashi's back to the west side of the field like they had planned. He couldn't help but admire the way she looked... Like she was made to fight. Her hair just made her look wild and free... Sexy, even.

The Uchiha shook his head and stood up silently, emerging from the brush as he pulled Sakura with him by the wrist. He once again rolled his eyes as he felt her skin heat up under his hand.

  
Sasuke formed his hands together into the tiger hand sign.

Dog.

Bird.

Horse.

Ox.

Tiger, again.

 **"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"** he shouted. He put his fist to his mouth and blew. Out came a giant fireball the size a boulder and shot like a bullet, right towards Kakashi.

Kakashi's singular eye widened as he heard the boy shout. He quickly used the **Substitution Jutsu** with one hand sign; Ox.

Kakashi watched down from the tree he was now in, at the log that he switched with. No sooner than a second did the ten inch thick log burn to a crisp. _'That could have been me if I wasn't paying attention… That was a pretty good idea…'_ He continued to observe the three as they split up among the trees looking for him. Kakashi channeled chakra to his ears to catch any suspicious sounds. He stepped over to the branch ahead of him and set off into a run, keeping to the edge of the woods…

"We've got him on the run!" Naruko grinned as she ran after Kakashi. Sasuke nodded once, his smirk set on his face. He easily kept the pace with her. Sakura, on the other hand, didn't say a word as she ran behind the two. She struggled to maintain the swiftness of their run and breathed heavily through her nose, but she didn't say a word. She wouldn't be able to bare it if Sasuke saw that she wasn't as strong as she should be.

Sakura watched as Sasuke pulled out a kunai and tied a paper bomb onto it as they ran. He blew gently on the paper, a spark of ember appearing on the corner, and threw the grenade towards the east. She followed after the two as they turned and ran north of the kunai. "What'd you do that for?" Sakura whispered.

"Most likely, Kakashi-sensei will keep to the edge to the trees, thinking that we won't venture so deep. Sasuke threw the paper bomb to attract Kakashi-sensei towards the noise. We're following the kunai indirectly so we can ambush him through all the smoke," Naruko answered, slightly winded from the run. She really needed to start working on her chakra control more often…

Sure enough, a low explosion shook the ground and the genin dashed towards the detonation site.

  
Sasuke stopped fifteen feet short of the smoke and narrowed his eyes. "Naru, can you see any thing?" he whispered almost silently. Sakura furrowed her eyebrows by his question. Why would he ask her? Wouldn't he, as an Uchiha, have better eyesight than her and Naruko combined?

Naruko narrowed her eyes and stepped forward, reaching into her shuriken holster. She threw the small four edged windmill into the smoke sharply and listened.

_A twig cracked._

She dove into the now clearing smoke, followed by Sasuke and more hesitantly, Sakura.

  
Sakura heard a sharp screech of metal clashing as the smoke finally cleared. Sasuke and Kakashi were matching kunai while Naruko was no where to be seen. Her eyes darted between Kakashi and Sasuke, wondering what she could do to help…

At the same time, Naruko was observing Sakura from her position. She was waiting to ambush Kakashi like Sasuke had done earlier. She knew the pink-haired girl had a crush on her best friend — her chest tightened at the thought — but she wanted to help her. So she decided to give Sakura an opening. _'Besides, at the rate this is going, we'll need something to bring this back into our favor.'_ Naruko placed herself behind Kakashi and shaped her fingers into the hand sign of the hare.

Dog.

Ox.

Hare.

Tiger.

Bird.

Monkey.

 **"Wind Style: Air Slash Jutsu!"** she yelled. Just like Sasuke, she put her right fist to her mouth and blew roughly. On the opposite end, a blue ball of air, the exact same size as Sasuke's fireball, formed. The giant ball then broke apart in an explosion of air, light blue blades of wind cutting down anything in their path to get to Kakashi.

Sakura watched as shockwaves of the deadly wind narrowed in on Kakashi. In the corner of her eye, she could see Sasuke doing the hand signs for **Substitution Jutsu**. The blades hit the jonin in the back forcing him face first into the tree in front of him and sliced up his protective vest. She faintly heard the bells ring and darted towards the sound. Swiftly, Sakura snatched the bells off of Kakashi's waist and kept running.

Naruko stared at her as she ran. She eventually grinned and followed after her. Sasuke trailed after the two girls and in next to no time, was leading them toward the middle of the field.

Kakashi shook his head roughly and stood. _'Sometimes, I really regret teaching her that…'_ After taking off his vest with a covered frown, he once again performed the Shunshin and appeared in between the wooden post and the three new genin. "So? Who gets the bells?"

Inner Sakura cackled. **"Now Sasuke-kun and I can be together!"** Sakura was about to volunteer herself and Sasuke when Naruko beat her to it.

"Sasuke and Sakura can take the bells. What's another year back at the Academy?" she shrugged.  
Inner Sakura cackled again. **"Poor little loser knows she's no good!"**

Kakashi nodded and smiled underneath his mask. "Congratulations! You all pass!" Naruko and Sasuke high-fived one another while Sakura looked on in confusion. "W-wait! What are you talking about?"

Naruko and Sasuke rolled their eyes simultaneously at Sakura's cluenessness. **"For someone smart, she sure can be dense…,"** Sasu muttered. "The entire point of the test was to show how well we could work as a team. It's not possible to send a genin back to the Academy and still have a functioning team. We proved we could, so we pass," Sasuke explained. Sakura's green eyes widened before gasping at her stupidity. She couldn't believe that she had been so dumb!

"There's never been a two-man cell before..."

"Exactly. The only way for this to be possible is if you were of ANBU rank and even then you would have to be at the top of your game," Kakashi said. Sakura nodded, happy for passing but not so much being on a team with Naruko.

"Weren't you in a two-man cell, sensei?" Sasuke inquired.

Kakashi arched his uncovered eyebrow. "How'd you know that?"

"My b… my brother… he was one of the ANBU ninja under you, wasn't he? I… I remember him talking about you; he cursed how much training you put him through, but he always respected you…," Sasuke recounted.

Under his mask, the corner of Kakashi's mouth twitched, remembering how the silent eleven year old Uchiha would give him looks of annoyance. Before he could let himself fall further into his memories, Kakashi shook his head so quickly, only Naruko could barely catch a glimpse of him. "Now," he started. "Meet me back here at nine o'clock for our first training session and D rank mission." Kakashi once more, without hand signs, disappeared leaving wisps of fire behind.

"How do you two do that?" Sasuke asked exasperated.

"It's really easy to understand, actually," Naruko began. "There's only one hand sign: ram, and all you have to do is visualize the place you want to be next."

"But what about all the lightning and stuff you two leave behind?" he interrupted.

"That's only because of our elemental affinities, plus it distracts your opponents; it only happens if you're well versed in your element. Which is why most of the chūnin and a few jōnin only leave puffs of smoke, or to signify their affiliation with their village: leaves for Konoha or lightning for Kumo, behind," she finished.

"Kakashi doesn't use the hand sign…," Sakura thought out loud.

"Since he's so used to doing it, Kakashi doesn't have to; only think it and force his body to move," Naruko shrugged.

"Do you think he'll teach us?" Sasuke asked.

Naruko nodded thoughtfully. "Maybe… When it's your first time, it's a lot harder than it looks. You have to first visualize the place you want to go, then focus chakra into the spot you've visualized and it's quite difficult when you've never been there…," she answered. "But anyway, are Choji, Kiba, Shika and I still sleeping over?"

Sakura's eyes bugged out of her head. Naruko was staying the night at Sasuke's? With three other guys? She continued to stare but neither Sasuke nor Naruko noticed or cared.

They soon left her standing with a clueless face, wondering how someone like Naruko, who was barely even in school a _month_ , could be at the top of the class and be able to hang out with Sasuke — something every single girl in Konoha desperately wanted — in a matter of a month?

"Yeah. We just have to set everything up on the first floor, like laying down blankets and sheets to make the floor more comfortable, we need to get some candy and drinks," Sasuke shrugged. "Well then come on! If we hurry, we can get some of those grape tomatoes you like...," Naruko suggested. With her wrist captured by her best friend, she was dragged to the shopping district, practically breaking the sound barrier. All Sakura could do was stare after them before racing to Yamanaka's Flower Shop to gossip with Ino...

"C'mon...," grunted Naruko. She tapped her foot impatiently as she waited outside the grocery store. "How long does it take just to get some snacks and damn tomatoes?" she demanded. She had been waiting for twenty minutes, blatantly ignoring all the glares the villagers delivered as they walked past. Eventually, Sasuke walked out the door holding two bags in each hand.

"Finally!" she exclaimed. She reached for the pair of groceries in his left hand, raising her eyebrows at the weight. "Wha...?" She looked down into the bags, finding small globes of red. "What?" Naruko reached in, pulling out a tomato. "Serious?! Two doezen tomatoes?!"

Sasuke's eyes gave her a sheepish look while his face remained stoic. The blonde rolled her eyes. "You want me to make you grilled tomatoes, don't you?" His eyes lit up and he nodded quickly, capturing her hand and dragged her back to his estate, muttering "tomatoes" the entire way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so glad that I have these first few chapters written already and uploaded on ffn lol also, I know that clothing descriptions are a pain to read, I'll link all the outfit differences eventually but it was already written like this


	6. The Land of Waves, Part One: Enter the Bridge Builder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The story finally begins to pick up, the Land of Waves Arc begins!

"Again!" Kiba growled, heaving his tired and bruised body off of the dirt floor. He swatted Choji's helping hand away and slid into a fighting stance, his sharp teeth bared. The group of genin were watching as the Inuzuka sparred in taijutsu alone, just in case his partner, Akamaru, was out of action.

"Kiba… a-are you sure? Y-your clothes a-are in t-tatters…," Hinata asked.

Finally, Naruko, Shikamaru and Sasuke had managed to steal the key to Training Ground Forty-Four. Well, _steal_ isn't the exact word…

¤¤¤

_It wasn't an easy task to succeed, sneaking into the Torture and Interrogation level of the Hokage building. Twenty feet underground and covered with ANBU, who were hidden among the shadows. The caper was mostly done by perfect timing._

_Luckily for them, Shikamaru had the ability to manipulate the shadows and keep them emerged in darkness the entire time. Plus, Naruko was well versed in playing tricks on the ANBU and was tutored by some on occasion, so she knew how they moved and reacted._

_Naruko hand signed to Shikamaru and Sasuke ordering them to keep quiet and move silently. It wouldn't have been this easy if Kiba tagged along. He was a heavy hitter like Naruko, but didn't have the experience to have every step silent and remain stealthy the entire time._

_Carefully, the trio snuck through each floor until they reached Anko's office. Sasuke successfully unlocked the door with two senbon needles, and just when they thought it was safe to search the room, the applause of a singular person echoed through it._

_"Wh-what…?" Naruko stuttered as the lights came on._

_"Not bad, you three… Not bad at all…,"Anko praised._

_"How'd you know we were here?" Naruko wondered._

_"You know, there's this wonderful thing called silent chakra alarms… If unrecognized chakra is used near one of the seals all over the building, it activates the one I drew on my arm. Excellent for catching infiltrators… or nosy genin," Anko smirked._

_"We… we were just, uhh… just um —" Naruko clambered for an answer._

_"Testing you," Shikamaru interjected. "Congratulations, you passed."_

_The jōnin's eyes narrowed skeptically and reached into her pocket. "Or… you were looking for this?" She pulled out a silver key hanging from its own key ring._

_"W-why would we be looking for that, Anko-nee chan…? I don't even know what that key is for!"_

_"Cut the shit, Naruko. If you wanted the key, all you had to do was ask," Anko grinned._

_"What?" The three genin exclaimed._

_"I trust you to not do anything stupid; you know that place inside and out."_

_Naruko's mouth dropped open, and remained that way until Shikamaru closed it himself._

_The Snake Mistress dropped the key into Sasuke's waiting hand prior to ruffling Naruko's hair. "Just be fucking careful, alright?" The blonde nodded silently with a grin and wrapped her arms around Anko's waist in a tight hug before disappearing down the hall with Sasuke and Shikamaru._

_》》》_

_"Check it out, boys! The key to our success!" Naruko cheered as she barreled through the front door of Sasuke's section of the Uchiha Compound. She quickly kicked off her shinobi sandals before jumping on the couch in the living room._

_"Whoa! You mean you actually stole it?!" Kiba shouted._

_"Err, no. Anko caught us before we could even search the room," Sasuke explained, claiming the seat on Naruko's left side._

_"Burst my bubble, why don't you, Sasuke?" Naruko pouted._

_"So what happened?" Choji chimed in from the kitchen._

_Shikamaru sighed, relaxing into his sleeping area on the living room floor. "Anko surprised us the moment we stepped into her office. Said all we had to do was ask her for the key. Everything would have been way less troublesome…"_

_Sasuke snorted and flipped through the channels on the TV. "Nothing's on… Movie?"_

_"Hell yeah! Let's watch an action movie!" Kiba said._

_"Eh, I feel more like watching a scary movie…," Sasuke disagreed._

_Choji finally returned from the kitchen, holding a plate of food in one hand and a duffle bag full of snacks that he and Kiba bought in the other. Dropping the bag on the floor, he too sat on his sleeping bag. "Let's watch something funny!"_

_"Ooh, I wanna watch something funny too!" Naruko snatched the remote from Sasuke, racing through the channels rapidly to find the pay-per-view channels. "Sweet!_ The Happiness of the Katakuris! _(₁)"_

_Kiba made a disgusted face. "What! No way are we watching that! It's not even funny!"_

_"Duh! The movie is shit, but that's what makes it funny!"_

_Sasuke tried to make sense of his best friend's explanation. "So we're watching this shitty movie for its shittiness and we'll laugh_ because _it's shitty?"_

_Naruko nodded seriously. Sasuke stared before shrugging. "Alright."_

¤¤¤

Shaking his head of the memories from last Saturday, Shikamaru smirked tauntingly at the feral boy. As Kiba took the bait, the Nara heir's mind raced through every plan possible with every step his friend took. The Inuzuka had no strategy and powered forward just like before. Meeting him move for move, their taijutsu was played like a game of Shogi, in which Shikamaru was a master. Despite his trademark laziness, he was quite agile and wasted no time using Kiba's superior strength against him and laid him out on the ground.

Glaring up at the boy, Kiba swept Shikamaru's feet right from under him. He was about to pull Shikamaru into a headlock, when Naruko suddenly called the group over for lunch.

The entire group of genin (Kiba, Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, Sakura, Hinata, Shino) raced over to the giant blanket that she and Sasuke had laid over the forest floor of Training Ground 44. It had been about four weeks since their jōnin senseis had tested them for passing into genin ranks and their meetings had been going pretty strong. They talked about the boring D Rank missions that they were put through, and both Kiba and Naruko complained about how it was time for more challenging missions instead of babysitting. Quite often, Sakura would always brag about how Sasuke did most of the work, when her other teammates knew it wasn't true. Just as much, Naruko had to stop herself from stabbing her in the hand with her fork and get her to shut up.

Towards the middle of the afternoon, the nine genin had to break up to meet their teachers. Team Seven remained to clean up the mess before racing towards training ground 7.

Obviously, the three were forced to wait almost two hours before Kakashi even decided to watch over them in the trees. He sweatdropped as he watched Naruko throw senbon needles laced with wind natured chakra at a very _accurate_ place on a full body picture of himself she had pinned to a tree. He listened as the needles whistled through the air. A wave of dread washed over him when three more landed in the pupil of his uncovered eye.

 _'Bull's eye,'_ he thought darkly.

To save himself mentally, he switched his focus onto Sasuke, who was currently lighting a fallen leaf on fire with his chakra. The fire quickly ate up the leaf and moved down to his fingertips, where the flame remained steady. He added another leaf to the small flame and a smirk appeared on his lips as the flame grew bigger. _'Kid's a pyromaniac... A pyromaniac with a high affinity for his chakra nature...'_ Kakashi continued to watch the young Uchiha, when the fire crackled and gave off a light purple shade. The only reason why that fire would turn purple was if… _'No fucking way... This kid... If this kid stays on the correct path... He's going to be one of the best.'_ What surprised him the most was that Sasuke didn't even seem the least bit phased by the color change. Kakashi knew that Naruko and Sasuke were two of the best genin to come out of the Academy in the past two years already. He trained Naruko personally since she was seven years old and knew the potential she had. He knew that she would become one of the best kunoichi in Konoha. With Minato and Kushina as parents, it's obvious that such brilliance would be hereditary. Kakashi shook his head to release himself from his thoughts and moved on to Sakura.

The pinkette sat about three feet away from Sasuke, watching him with awed eyes, glared at Naruko whenever the blonde spoke to him, and not much else. Kakashi didn't understand why she was just sitting there, as if nothing else was more important than Sasuke. He noticed how small she was compared to Naruko and could practically hear her stomach growling from here… Kakashi sighed mentally, knowing he was going to have to use tough love on Sakura and maybe even call in female reinforcements…

Seeing enough for right now, Kakashi lazily leapt down from the tree branch he was sitting on and put his book in his back pocket. He suddenly leaned his head to the right, dodging three of Naruko's senbon as they whistled past his ear. _'Not bad...'_

"You're late, Kakashi... again," Sasuke grunted. He extinguished the palm sized flame and stood, albeit grudgingly, to find out what kind of D-Rank mission Team Seven would be doing today. He and Shikamaru always wondered why genin were forced to do such frivolous things like tending to gardens, babysitting and shopping for invalids. Between the both of them, they thought that Academy students should have to do these assignments, to not only allow more missions to be picked up but also teaching the Academy students to be humble.

"Heh... gomen... On my way here, a black cat crossed my path... so when I tried to take another route, another cat crossed that one as well," Kakashi gave his one eyed smile and rubbed the back of his neck. The students snorted softly.

"So what boring D-Rank are we doing today?" Naruko complained, "Mowing someone's lawn? Taking out someone's trash? Ooh, how about the most boring of all: painting fences."

"Actually... I put us in for a mission that requires stealth, patience and excellent reaction time...," Kakashi started. The three genin stared with excited awe and under his mask, Kakashi's lips slid into a smirk. "Finding the Fire Daimyo's cat, Tora."

¤¤¤

_"This is Silver Wolf, I repeat, this is Silver Wolf. Is everyone in position?"_

_"This is Panther. I am three yards south-east of the target, over."_

_"Kitsune, here. Three yards west of the target."_

An irritated sigh crackled through the headsets. _"This is Flamingo…"_ Kakashi, Naruko and Sasuke bit back chuckles. _"I'm one yard north of the target and Naruko, when we're finished, I'm hurting you."_

Swallowing another round of laughter, Naruko answered, _"Sorry, Sakura, it's the only animal I could think of that's naturally pink."_

 _"Really?"_ she deadpanned. _"What fox do you know that's naturally yellow?"_

 _"Let's just catch the damn cat, alright?"_ Naruko rushed, refusing to answer her question.

 _"Now that my little genin are all in position,"_ said Kakashi. _"You three are to capture Tora in three…"_

The junior ninja, erasing all traces of amusement from their faces, stood at the ready for their teacher's permission.

_"Two…"_

They crouched into postures for quick and easy movement.

_"One."_

…

…

…

…

…

…

…  
"YOWCH! Get this fucking cat off of me before I rip it to shreds!" Naruko growled. Sasuke and Sakura burst into laughter while trying to remove the cat that had sunk her claws into the blonde's face.

Because of her jealousy, Sakura smirked slightly as Naruko flailed around in pain, trying to shake the cat off. But it it soon slid into a prominent scowl as she watched Sasuke calm both Tora and Naruko down enough and removed the cat's claws gently. She glared as the Uchiha stroked the red marks on her face softly and the glare only worsened when Naruko blushed, blending in with the bright scratches.

"You okay?" Sasuke asked quietly.

Naruko's blush just grew deeper as she nodded silently. With the vibrant blush, she walked ahead of Sakura and Sasuke, leaving him to carry Tora who had been purring as she curled around his legs. Scowl still in place, Sakura followed after the two to the Academy to report a successful mission.

¤¤¤

"Team Seven here to report a completed mission, old man!" Naruko cheered, her blush had long since faded.

In the room, along with the Hokage, were Iruka, Ebisu (Konohamaru's sensei), and Konohamaru himself sitting in his grandfather's lap.

As he was about to lecture Naruko on showing the Hokage respect, Iruka was cut off by Konohamaru jumping to the floor. "Naruko-chan!" he shouted, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Konohamaru! How ya been? You remember Sasuke, don't you?" she grinned.

The eight year old glared up at Sasuke from under Naruko's arms, not surprised to see him returning his glare. _'The enemy…,'_ the child thought.

 _'Little runt…,_ ' Sasuke thought.

To say that Konohamaru was not a big fan of Sasuke Uchiha would be an understatement. In the young Sarutobi's eyes, he was a rival of Naruko's attention. Ever since being babysat by her and her team two weeks ago, he was determined to marry the blonde. Naruko had what he liked to call supreme beauty and was sure he would be able to revel in it for the rest of his days.

》》》

_"Konohamaru-kun, while I am in a meeting, I want you and your friends to be good for the ninja who are going to watch you." Hiruzen instructed._

_"But ojii-chan, I don't wanna be babysat by ninja. I'm old enough to be by myself," his grandson whined._

_The Hokage ruffled his pouting grandson's hair with a soft smile. "You're only eight, mago... Besides, I think you'll have fun being watched by Team Seven."_

_Konohamaru grunted and crossed his arms as he waited for his friends, Moegi and Udon to arrive. No time was wasted when his friends came bursting through the door followed by their grandparents, who were also the former teammates of the old Hokage._

_Hiruzen chuckled softly at the frazzled looks on their faces and waited with them for their grandchildren's babysitters to arrive._

_Team Seven arrived a short time later with Kakashi abandoning them the moment the Hokage and his advisors left. Alone to watch three eight year olds, the teens were clueless as to how to keep them amused. Luckily for them, the children never came back down the stairs… or so they thought._

BANG.

_The genin jumped from their seats on the couch and their attention was torn away from the television to the ceiling. "What the hell…?" Naruko wondered._

_"What are those brats doing?" grunted Sasuke._

_Naruko stood up and flinched slightly when another bang reverberated through the house. She quickly went up the stairs, with Sakura and Sasuke close behind, to find Konohamaru's room. A light cloud of smoke coated the hallway and she followed the starting place, which just so happened to be the child's room. With another bang, a dark cloud of smoke rolled under the door; that was suddenly opened causing more smoke to rush out. The trio of teenagers coughed loudly, along with three younger voices echoing them._

_Konohamaru, followed by Moegi and Udon, ran from the room and tried to find the wall so he could find his way downstairs, only to grasp onto something soft instead. A soft globe of some kind? He squeezed to unfamiliar item again, attempting to identify it. He wanted to open his eyes but he knew that if he did, all he would see is black smoke and get red eyes. This time he reached up and squeezed with both hands._ 'These are… really soft,' _he thought to himself. Konohamaru giggled softly and continued his blind exploration, not knowing that the other four members in the house and fanned the hallway clear._

_While all this was happening, Naruko was confused out of her mind as to why she could feel someone holding onto her breasts. Though the burnt smell of the smoke hindered her sense of smell, she could still catch the scents of Sasuke and Sakura. She heard them, plus two others moving around and soon the hall was unburdened. The grip still remained on her chest and she looked down with Sakura's, Udon's and Moegi's gasps in the background. The most prominent sound though, was Sasuke's growl of… jealousy? But why…?_

**"You little runt!"** _Naruko snarled. She bopped him on top of his head heavily with the bottom of her fist. "What do you think you're doing feeling me up, huh?!"_

 _The last thing Konohamaru thought before falling unconscious was,_ 'She's beautiful...'

》》》

"Yea… I remember him, sorta," Konohamaru dismissed. "So are you comin' here to do a super-cool, super-secret mission?"

Naruko looked up at Kakashi with narrowed eyes. "I don't know, are we?"

To save him from his little sister's powerful glare, he quickly asked the village leader if there were any available C-Ranked missions.

"Now that you mention it, a mission just came in a few days ago. A bridge builder by the name of Tazuna would like to be escorted safely back to his home of Nami no Tochi. Really, all you would have to do is protect him from the occasional bandit or two. Do you accept, Team Seven?" the Hokage asked.

"Hai, Hokage-sama!" they answered.

"Yeah! Naruko-chan's gonna kick some butt!" Konohamaru cheered. The wide grin he developed soon slid into a frown. "Oh… how long will she be gone, ojii-chan?" The Sandaime smiled gently. "Only for a week; not very long, I think." The eight year old pouted and held tighter to Naruko.

"Kono-kun…," she said softly. Konohamaru's cheeks reddened softly at the nickname. She ruffled his hair playfully and hugged him tightly. "It's only a week. Then, as soon as I come back I'll play Ninja with you, Moegi and Udon."

"You promise?" he asked, eyes lit up with excitement.

"Would I lie to you?" she grinned.

The Third Hokage motioned for Iruka to allow the bridge builder into the room, who entered with a drunken body and sake-laced breath.

Tazuna rubbed his tired eyes with his free left hand, then took a swig of sake from the bottle in his right. His white shirt was dingy from dirt and stained with the brown alcohol. "What's this…?" he grumbled. "I asked for ninja, not a group of chibi. I've never seen a ninja with pink or bright blond hair; not to mention that they look like they would cry the moment they broke a nail." He was about to say something about Sasuke when he was suddenly shoved into the wall and felt something flat, cold and sharp against his throat; a kunai. Tazuna looked down to see the blonde girl he was just insulting glaring up at him with amethyst eyes instead of sapphire.

"I can assure you, Tazuna- _san_ , that even if we are _chibi_ , Kakashi-sensei is one of the best jonin Konoha has to offer." Though her voice was calm, it was laced with irritation and managed to send shivers down Tazuna's, Sakura's, Konohamaru's and Sasuke's spines. The Uchiha had to blink a few times to remind himself that this was one of his best friends and not his brother. "We can and will keep you safe."

With an amused look, Kakashi pulled Naruko away from Tazuna with little resistance and combed his fingers through her wild hair, knowing it would calm her down. "Naruko is right, Tazuna-san; we are able to keep you safe. My team and I are more than capable of protecting you." The bridge builder nodded with nervous eyes and then grunted. "You better be," he said gruffly, unwilling to be intimidated by a fifteen year old.

》》》

The next day, Team Seven arrived at Konoha's front gates with Kakashi — surprisingly — on time and Naruko bouncing on her toes, a grin stretching from ear to ear. This would be the blonde's very first trip out of the village and her excitement just could not be contained. The village's gate guards, chūnin Kotetsu and Izumo, arrived with Tazuna from his hotel soon afterwards.

"Now," Kakashi spoke from behind his limited edition copy Icha Icha Paradise, "is everyone prepared and ready to go?"

"Yes!" Naruko shouted eagerly, unable to contain herself. She couldn't wait to see what it was like outside of Konoha! If there's another thing Naruko like more than fighting, it was learning or seeing new things. Kakashi gave an eye-smile at his younger sister's enthusiasm. "I take it you two agree?" he asked Sasuke and Sakura. With their approving nods, he turned without another word and began to lead his genin, and their charge out of the village.

Naruko cheered the entire way.

At least for the first hour.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (₁) This is a real movie and yes, it really is shitty.


	7. The Land of Waves, Part Two: Kirigakure’s Demon Brothers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to get a small insight into Naruko's love of fighting, I love seeing Sakura struggle, Inner Sakura is an asshole, and the first hint at our plot

"Oi, oi… this is so boring…," Naruko moaned. She pulled out one of her non-poisoned senbon from the pouch on her left thigh and proceeded to clean her nails with it. The young genin was anxious for the action that would allow her to put her new gloves to use. Since chakra conducting metal is in such high demand, it had been good few months until it had even _arrived_ in Konoha and be transformed into her new chakra claw gloves. Naruko had tried them out instantly when Jiraiya surprised her with them before she left the house for Team Seven's first C ranked mission.

The fingerless gloves looked almost exactly like Kakashi's, except they were black. The metal plating covering the back of the hands shifts into three claws when she focuses her chakra to that point. While she was the one who came up with the taijutsu form of the **Fox's Claw** , it was actually Kakashi that came up with the idea to have the form even more devastating.

With the taijutsu consisting of rapid moving slashes, kicks and fast movements, one can easily confuse the target with its unpredictability and the opponent will succumb to it; the Sharingan's worst enemy. But including the chakra claws… those slashes will leave damage even if Naruko never lands a hit. Sort of like the Hyuuga's Gentle Fist or even Asuma's trench knives.

Because the metal conducts chakra, Naruko will be able to coat the blades in any elemental chakra she chooses. If she decides to cover the claws in fire natured chakra, every slash will be able to leave quite the burn behind. Should she use lightning chakra, the opponents will feel a nice heavy jolt of electricity plus affecting the nerves in that area. Wind chakra will be able to cut through anything, increasing her amount of damage by 50 to 90 percent. And it'll get even better as Naruko continues to master it.

"Naruko, it's not supposed to be exciting. It's just a escort mission," Kakashi said from behind his book. Naruko grunted, clenching her fist impatiently for any form of action, even if it's just from some common bandits.

"Weren't you the one who was all hyped up about leaving the village no more than two hours ago?" Sakura asked.

"That was before I knew how _boring_ this was going to be…," Naruko huffed. "I wanna injure someone…" Tazuna and Sakura flinched from her casual need for blood to be drawn, while Sasuke only rolled his eyes and Kakashi was briefly reminded of Anko.

"You're such a sadist…," Sasuke chuckled softly. "Not everything is about fighting."

"You're absolutely right," Naruko agreed seriously. "It's also about ramen."

After a soft laugh from Sasuke, nothing left was said after that and the ninja continued to escort their charge to his destination in comfortable silence. Naruko soon got over her boredom and enjoyed the nature outside of her village.

Sakura decided to break the silence after an hour. "Kakashi-sensei…?"

The scarecrow picked his head up from his book. "Yes?"

"If Wave is a village just like Konoha, why don't they have their own ninja?"

A little disgruntled at being forced to put his book away, Kakashi traded it for a worn out map and set it on the ground. "This here...," he pointed to the central part of the Land of Fire; Konoha. "...is us, obviously." He moved his index finger to the South, on the water near the edge of the country. "Right here is Wave. They're much too small to have their own military, so they call on the closest country with one: us." Kakashi slid the map into his back pocket and quickly took out Icha Icha Paradise, happily returning to the page he was on before being interrupted.

"Ugh, how can you read those things, Kakashi-sensei? They're trash," Sakura scolded. Kakashi's single eye widened at the barb at his favorite series and practically stumbled a step before adjusting himself.

"Oh, they're not that bad, Sakura… Ero-Sennin could have had a more in depth storyline and toned down on the smut a little bit, but it's a pretty good read… Definitely not something to read in public though," Naruko commented.

For a second time, Kakashi stopped abruptly, his dark eye peeking over the brim of his book. "You hate perverts," he stated bluntly.

"I am not a pervert. I merely admire the allure of both sexes," she said honestly, walking ahead of the group.

"...I'm so proud," Kakashi praised, causing Sasuke to snort. Sakura glared in disgust at the back of Naruko's head, not knowing that the blonde teen could feel her eyes on her the entire time.  
It was soon afterwards that they passed a clear puddle on their way down the dirt path.

 _'A random puddle on a sunny day like this... How dumb do they think we are…?'_ Kakashi rolled his uncovered eye. He didn't need to look up from his book to know that two of his students were already preparing themselves for a fight. The silver haired jōnin could sense the giddiness rolling off of his adopted sister in waves. The quartet continued on moving until two teenagers covered in black emerged slowly from their puddle.

They wasted no time with their mission. One of the black clad teenagers, had shoulder-length, wild dark-brown hair and dark eyes. He was wearing a rebreather that covered the lower half of his face and a large, clawed, poisonous gauntlet on his right arm which had a ten foot shuriken chain coming out of it that had the other end attached to his brother's own gauntlet. He wore a camouflage suit with bandages around his waist, dark-coloured, knee-length sandals and a ragged black cape. His Kirigakure forehead protector had a single horn on it.

The second had shoulder-length, wild dark-brown hair and dark eyes. He too was wearing a rebreather that covered the lower half of his face and a large, clawed, poisonous gauntlet on his left arm which was the receiving end of the shuriken chain from brother's gauntlet. He wore a camouflage suit with bandages around his waist, dark-coloured, knee-length sandals and several pouches around his waist and his body was covered by a black cloak. His Kirigakure forehead protector had two horns on it, instead of one.

They quickly wound their chain around Kakashi. He groaned in pain as the sharp edges of the shuriken chain dug into his body when they Kiri ninja suddenly yanked on their ends of the chain, ripping their teacher into bloody shreds. The pieces fell to the ground and stained the dirt with his blood.

"One down," the other grunted.

The genin's eyes widened as they stared at the remains teacher. Sakura's face formed into a silent scream, much too shocked to do anything further. Naruko's and Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

 _ **'Something's wrong...,'**_ Kurama thought. Despite his hatred for humans, he found himself quite fond of the people in his jailer's life. He knew that there was no way that someone as strong as Kakashi would fall that easily. At the same time, Sasuke's and Naruko's eyes met, reading their facial expressions. _'He's testing us.'_

With that, the two nodded. "Sakura," Sasuke called. "Guard Tazuna with your life; Naruko and I will take care of these goons." The pinkette nodded hesitantly, diverted the bridge builder to the edge of the trees away from the fight, and with a shaky hand pulled a kunai out of her pouch. Looking at their opponents further, Sasuke realized them as the Demon Brothers, Gōzu and Meizu.

Twin chūnin ranked ninjas of Kirigakure; and some of the best journeyman ninja they had to offer. Two minutes apart with Gōzu being the oldest. They had committed an unsuccessful assassination against the Third Mizukage before defecting and were worth at least 160,000 ryō. They always took care of their opponents quickly and efficiently; but never did it cleanly.

Like all Kiri ninja, the Demon Brothers loved to play with their prey and make a mess while doing it.

Forced to ignore their sensei's blood dripping from the toothed chain, Sasuke and Naruko met the twins head-on, allowing their anger to fuel their fighting. Gōzu and Meizu grinned underneath their masks, excited to give the young genin a bloody end. Sasuke glared at Gōzu coldly and the older twin almost thought that he could see under his rebreather. The Uchiha broke his glare to look at Naruko, whose face was completely empty of emotion, aside from the icy look in her usually warm eyes. He glanced down at her hands to see that they were clenched and the metal of her gloves were molded into claws. Sasuke was briefly impressed by their sharpness and the way the metal glittered in the sunlight.

 _'Time to get to work',_ he thought grimly.

Sasuke sighed outwardly and easily darted away at a speed only a chūnin could reach. He ignored the surprised look in his opponent's eyes, and decided to use it to his advantage, snapping his left fist forward and punching his jaw. Meizu's head snapped to the right and accidentally jerked his brother with him.

Angry at being torn away from his fight, Gōzu glared at his brother briefly before almost dodging a swipe of... claws?

Using his confusion as an opening, Naruko swiped at Gōzu's face fiercely and sliced his rebreather clear off of his face. Three clean lines of blood dripped from his jaw, making Naruko realize she must have used wind chakra subconsciously. She continued her assault, leaving no room for Gōzu to counter. Sweeping upward into an uppercut his chin, Gōzu stopped the claws from piercing his neck by grabbing her arm, his own poisonous claws from the gauntlet digging into her bicep.

The blonde paid no attention to the stinging pain running up her arm. A small jolt in the back of her head notified her that Kurama was attempting to eliminate the poison. She sent a mental thank you, and ducked underneath his free hand, not willing to feel that unpleasant poison invading her bloodstream again.

Naruko noted that for someone who who was hindered by staying in circumference to their partner, Gōzu was fighting pretty well. She suddenly grinned, confusing the twin and called out to Sasuke.

Thrusting the heel of his hand into Meizu's chin and successfully disorienting him, Sasuke looked over in question. Naruko swiftly signed to him, explaining that the twins must fight in the shape of a circle to cover each other back or to wrap their chain around opponents at a moment's notice and that they are only able to handle an even number of people at a time. The twins' coordination was excellent while they fought together, but the moment they were forced apart, you could tell that they are not as impressive as before.

He nodded quickly before grabbing Meizu's forearm from behind and folded it against his back. Sasuke then allowed some of his chakra to burst from his left foot as he kicked the younger twin towards his brother with more strength than usual.

The twin slammed into his brother's back and their dark haired heads snapped together, causing Sakura and Tazuna to wince from the sidelines. Gōzu groaned before shaking his head and growling lowly. He shoved his brother with his left shoulder and Meizu's head lolled slightly, frightening his older brother until he lifted his head. He jerked his left hand and shook the deadly chain free with his twin mimicking his motions.

"Hn; I thought so…," Sasuke grunted from a safe distance away. "This might be slightly more difficult…"

"Or a little easier," Naruko added. "There's a reason why they fight better as one unit…," she taunted.

Meizu snarled beneath his rebreather and attempted to take Naruko's head, but was quickly intercepted by Sasuke, who jolted the younger brother with an electrified fist to the stomach. He swung his clawed hand at the Uchiha and grunted with displeasure when he ducked. Meizu managed to catch Sasuke on the side of his head with his bare fist and jabbed the points of his left handed gauntlet into his side.

Hissing sharply as the claws drove into the muscles of his side, Sasuke kneed his opponent in the stomach then kicked him away with full force. The impact of the kick caused Meizu to fly back and hit his head on the base of a tree, knocking him out. "Shit...," Sasuke murmured, wincing as he stood up straight. With every step, he hissed in pain as he went to check Meizu's body for an antidote.

》》》

As she narrowly escaped another deadly swipe from Gōzu's clawed hand — this time for her throat — Naruko grabbed the gauntlet to pull him forward and kneed him in the stomach, which allowed her to lift his heavy body over her shoulder and flip him onto his back. Without a second thought, Naruko quickly slashed at Gōzu's throat and severed his head from his neck with her claws laced in fire chakra to cauterize the wound and make it as clean as possible. Internally, she smirked when she looked up to see Tazuna's and Sakura's shocked faces.

 _ **"She'll never become a capable ninja if she gets frightened by a simple decapitation,"**_ Kurama scoffed.

Naruko's smirk spread wider. _'Not all ninja, let alone kunoichi, are as bloodthirsty as me… Besides, she seems more like a healer than a fighter, though she'll be able to kick ass when she needs to. Kami knows she has one hell of a temper… She might be like Tsunade Senju… but with more control over her anger… maybe.'_

Kurama snorted skeptically, his enormous tails swaying lazily inside of his cage. _**"If you say so… I can't have my jailer held down by a kunoichi who refuses to fight back."**_

_'Aw, Kurama… I didn't know you cared…'_

_**"Shut up, gaki."** _

Naruko laughed quietly when her nine tailed prisoner severed their connection.

》》》

"She didn't even blink…," Tazuna whispered.

Watching Naruko and Sasuke fight… Sakura didn't know what to say. She was in awe watching him fight someone who had to be at least four years older than them — and win — but she was also jealous, not to mention saddened by the fact there nothing she could do to help. The jealously flared up once more as her — one-sided — rival and her — also one-sided — crush shared two quick silent moments and instantly understood what the other was saying.

 **"Che, one of these days that blonde bitch won't know what hit her! Always around him and all those other losers; whore,"** Sakura's inner persona snarled. Meanwhile, Sakura didn't believe that was the case… It seemed to her like they had a connection that she would never be able to develop with Sasuke… **"You idiot! How could you think something like that?! You heard what Kaa-san said about her before we left."**

How could she forget? Her mother practically drilled it into her head as far as she could before Sakura could leave.

¤¤¤

_"Sakura," her mother called solemnly as she stood in her daughter's bedroom door._

_"Hmm?" Sakura answered distractedly, packing everything she needed into her backpack._

_"I want you to keep your distance from that…_ **girl.** _I know you said that your sensei puts emphasis on teamwork, but I don't want you getting caught in the crossfire."_

_"Huh? The crossfire of what?" Sakura asked, tilting her head to the side._

_"Just make sure you stay away from her, Sakura-chan... She's dangerous."_

_"N-naruko, dangerous? Kaa-chan, what do you —," Sakura started to say._

_"Just promise me, Sakura!" her mother said sharply._

_"But — okay, I promise..."_

¤¤¤

"She didn't need to," another voice added.

"Kakashi-sensei! Y-you're alive!" Sakura gasped.

"Of course I am; why would I allow two idiots like them kill me? I just wanted to see how you three would act in a real life situation," Kakashi admitted. "Though Naruko really didn't need to kill him… she probably got too into it… Oi, Sasuke, Naruko!"

_'Kami knows she's been through too much to be phased by something like that… Those people are the reason why she likes to see blood drawn in the first place.'_

Unsurprised by their teacher's sudden appearance, they walked over but not before Naruko sealed Gōzu's head into a scroll. Quickly searching the body for anything valuable as well, (extra kunai and shuriken, both the poison that laced the brother's gauntlets and an antidote to most poisons; and even a scroll of C-Ranked and some B-Ranked Water Style jutsu), she sealed it all away into a scroll and then into a storage seal Naruko drew herself onto her kunai holster and helped Sasuke heft Meizu over to the group.

"You couldn't have just told us to take care of the losers instead of faking your death?" Sasuke huffed, dropping his half of Meizu's unconscious body on the ground. He took in a shuddering breath before wincing when his poisoned wound twitched. "Any longer and I probably would've killed him too."

He didn't understand why he'd kill someone over Kakashi. It wasn't like he was all that close to him… but the more he thought about it, the more Sasuke realized that his anger wasn't over Kakashi's assumed murder. It was over the fact that Kakashi was one of Naruko's precious people, and that seeing one of the very few people he cared about angry, made Sasuke angry as well.

 _'It's weird caring about people,'_ Sasuke thought. Dancing around his subconscious, a grinning chibi version of Sasu was waving a flag with their face on it. **"Finally, we're getting somewhere!"**

"Meh, you two took care of it very well; aside from Naruko's excitement," Kakashi shrugged.

"Shouldn't have made me think you were dead," grunted Naruko, crossing her arms.

Kakashi leaned down to check Meizu's pulse. "You knocked him out pretty good, Sasuke; he should be out until morning. Then we can get some answers out him," he stood back up, glaring at Tazuna. "And after we set up for camp, you can explain to me why my genin just had to take out two chūnin ranked missing nin from Kiri."

The bridge builder flinched under Kakashi's glare, nodding slightly before taking another swig from his bottle of sake. He turned his head in a drunken sway as the jōnin set fire to Gōzu's body, his nose scrunching up from the burning smell of flesh.

¤¤¤

"Baka... you got poisoned, didn't you?"

Cleaning his wound in the river, Sasuke breathed heavily as he tried to ignore the pain. He looked up to see her carrying the medical kit Kakashi brought with her eyes narrowed. "Shut up. I can... clean out the wound and... get rid of the poison myself." He breathed a little easier when the cool water washed over the burning, swollen cuts.

"At least let me clean that for you...," sighed Naruko. She searched her pants for the antidote before stripping down to her sports bra and shorts and slipped into the water. Sasuke's cheeks instantly turned red, which Naruko figured was from the poison. "Here. Drink that while I clean this." With burning cheeks, Sasuke hastily gulped down the poison's cure and shuddered from the slimy feel of it running down his throat. He flinched slightly when Naruko pressed into the swollen openings.

"Sorry," she whispered as she rinsed the blood away. Sasuke shrugged with one shoulder, attempting to keep his eyes on the trees before him. "There; all the blood's gone. Now come on so I can clean these cuts properly and wrap up your chest."

Sasuke grunted and followed his best friend out of the water. He raised his arms into the air, allowing Naruko to wrap the bandages around his abdomen.

As they stood in peaceful silence, apart from Sasuke's wincing and Naruko apologizing. That was until the blonde noticed a strange mark on Sasuke's chest that was clearly darker than the rest of his body. It was perfectly shaped into a cat's paw and was directly over his heart. "Hey, cool birthmark…," she said, awed.

"Hm?" Sasuke answered absently. Looking down, he noticed that Naruko was staring at his chest. He forced down another blush ( _'I've got to stop blushing around her,'_ he thought.) and the corners of his mouth lifted into a small smile. "Thanks."

"How come none of us have never saw it?"

"I don't know… I always thought it was odd that I had a birthmark in the perfect shape of a paw for my entire life. I thought you and the guys would find it weird," he shrugged.

Naruko looked up at him with a deadpan look in her eyes and pointed to her right cheek. "Whiskers, remember? Kiba and Choji have marks on their faces too."

"Yeah, but Choji's and Kiba's aren't real. Besides, your whiskers look cute on your face," he pointed out. A faint blush rose up on both of the teens faces and Sasuke looked up at the trees, attempting to force his blush back down.

"Thanks…." She let her voice fade away into the comfortable calmness of the forest. Naruko soon finished wrapping up her best friend's chest and helped him put his shirt back on. "Don't move too much, just because the cuts aren't deep, doesn't mean it won't hurt."

Sasuke grunted. "Don't baby me. I'll be fine."

"Weren't you the one who got all pissy and made all of us wait on you hand and foot from having a stomach bug after eating some bad tomatoes?"

"...shut up."

¤¤¤

The sun soon set on the four ninja and their charge.

Too lazy to help, Kakashi forced his students to put up the tents, using the excuse of teamwork, while his nose was stuck in his book.

Naruko set off into the woods to search for the group's dinner. With the help of three shadow clones and her superior sense of smell, she delved deeper, briefly wondering why they couldn't have just brought food along. _'Kaka-niisan was probably just too lazy to draw the seal…,'_ she thought.

 _ **"Ne, gaki."**_ Kurama grunted from inside her head.

_"What?"_

_**"That birthmark your Uchiha has —"**_ he ignored his partner's indignant stuttering _**"— I've seen it before."**_

_"How is that possible?"_

_**"That 'birthmark' is actually an acceptance mark from Ryoko, the panther demon. I, he and four other demons have Summoning Contracts that have not been used in a several centuries, mostly from being lost or too difficult to be accepted. The six of us are so picky with our summoners that we pick them when they're born in the shape of a birthmark. Ryoko happens to mark his summoners with a black paw print over their hearts. Mine are chosen by being born with whiskers."** _

Naruko grinned as she sat down on a fallen, moss covered tree trunk. "Sasuke's gonna freak when I tell him," she said aloud.

 _ **"Whoa, you can't tell him. It's his decision to choose whether he wants the Contract or not. The thing with Demonic Contracts is that they are chakra and soul binding. When a demon makes a promise, they must do everything in their power to keep it, no matter what it is. If they don't, depending on the severity, their soul or chakra is cut in half. The chakra is no big deal, they can regain that in a century or so, but if your soul is cut in half, you become something called a Hollow and get to be hunted the Shinigami to either be his lap dog to collect more souls or be eaten yourself. If the Uchiha accepts the Contract because you want him to, but has no plans to use it, you'll cost the boy his chakra. He's not a Hanyou yet and he'll end up being bedridden for quite so time."**_ Kurama managed to quell Naruko's excitement and continued to explain. _**"Anyone who manages to become a Summoner of our contracts will have the choice to become a Hanyou, which is a half demon. There's no consequence if they say no, they just won't have access to any of the abilities or jutsu we have to offer. Ryoko will eventually contact the Uchiha during a dream or life threatening situation. The same goes for the others. Which brings me to my next point… most of the newest heirs to our contracts are all in Konoha, one's in Suna. Kind of helpful that they're all pretty much in one place."**_

With her eyebrows furrowed, Naruko stood back up to continue hunting as she listened to her partner. _'Why's that?'_

 _ **"The six of us are in an alliance, more of a partnership really, since we all work together the best. The fact that our heirs are all situated in one place just cuts down on you looking for them so we can keep our partnership going,"**_ Kurama explained.

_'Do you know who the heirs are? And why do I have to look them?'_

_**"You have to look because I was elected to be the alliance's leader at the turn of the century. It happens once every two hundred years. As for the heirs… The others you'll have to discover yourself. I'm afraid the only ones I know for sure now is the Uchiha and the Inuzuka."** _

_"Kiba? How do you know?"_

_**"The wolf demon, Shingetsu, has always had an affiliation with the Inuzuka Clan. He's actually the reason why their dogs look more wolf-like than others. His heirs are born with red fangs on their cheeks, and the other members did it as a sign of respect. It also helps protect the Chosen from enemies. Shingetsu is a close friend of mine so I would recognize his chakra in the birthmark the best."** _

_'Whoa… so wait… that means I'm your heir. Why me?'_ Naruko stood in the middle of the forest in awe.

 _ **"You seemed like the best and easiest choice at the time. Don't get a big head about it, gaki. I wasn't thinking it through.**_ _ **But you dealing with all the bullshit from those villagers made me accept choosing you. That doesn't mean I won't train you into the ground,"**_ Kurama grinned widely from inside his cage.

_'I wouldn't have it any other way, furball.'_

__¤¤¤_ _

__With Sasuke starting a campfire and Sakura setting down the sleeping bags, Kakashi believed this to be the perfect time to question Tazuna._ _

__"The Demon Brothers… they're too weak to send after my head, so they must have been after yours or Sasuke," Kakashi said bluntly._ _

__But interrogation was never Kakashi's forte._ _

__¤¤¤_ _

__Listening in the background, Sasuke twitched from the thought of someone going after his eyes._ _

__¤¤¤_ _

__A short nod and Tazuna answered with a disgruntled "Yes."_ _

__"Why?" Kakashi demanded._ _

__"My village," he started, "has been in poverty for the past three years… In such a small window, our funds and resources and been sucked dry… Homes foreclosed… crops destroyed… almost no animals to hunt for… empty stores… Gone, all of it. And it's all because of one man: Gatō," Tazuna stated, hoping the name would explain everything._ _

__"The shipping magnate and founder of Gatō Company?" Kakashi asked, his unseen eyebrows raised._ _

__"Yes… His shipping company is actually a front for much shadier activities, such as smuggling illegal goods and dealing drugs. He took control of our shipping routes and created a monopoly by isolating the country from the outside world, preventing free import and export and turning it into an impoverished, hunger-stricken country in the process. If he gets even the slightest whiff of making a profit, nothing can stop him…"_ _

__It was at this time that Kakashi's students interrupted the conversation. All three of them were practically radiating determination. "No," Kakashi said firmly. "Just from the Demon Brothers alone, this mission was kicked up to B-Rank; I don't care how well you did it. Who knows, if we keep going, there could be someone stronger than those two put together."_ _

__"Don't doubt us before we've had a chance!" growled Naruko. "We can do this, aniki! We can't abandon Wave in their time of need. As a Konoha ninja, I will not stand for it!" Along with her, Sasuke nodded and so did Sakura, after looking doubtful for a few moments._ _

__"Tch, as if I'm going to let Naruko have all the fun fighting," scoffed Sasuke._ _

__"And if Sasuke-kun and Naruko are going, then so am I!" Sakura said firmly._ _

__Kakashi's masked lips set in a thin line as he considered the options. A) They continue on and his genin get killed by someone who could possibly be at his level. B) They retreat and Wave is sucked dry until it becomes nothing but an abandoned ghost town. Or C) They somehow pull through and manage to declaw Wave from Gato's grip._ _

__Finally making his decision, Kakashi nodded silently, running his fingers through his hair. "Fine… fine. But the first moment it gets too difficult, we head home. Got it?"_ _

__"Yes!" Naruko pumped her fist into the air. "There's no one strong enough to screw with Team 7, Kakashi-sensei!"_ _

__Kakashi rolled his uncovered eye. "Don't be over-confident; the next opponent could be on par with me. Who knows how much Gatō paid these guys. Now go to sleep, we're leaving early."_ _

__¤¤¤_ _

__As told the day before, Tazuna and Team 7 left their campsite at dawn after Kakashi summoned one of his dogs to bring back a ninja to collect Meizu. They walked in comfortable silence but three-fifths of the group were always ready to fight back at a moments notice. Naruko soon revealed she had her own copy of Icha Icha Paradise hidden on her person, causing Sakura and Sasuke to blush as Tazuna laughed loudly at the young girl reading the explicit book intently._ _

__The longer the group walked, the colder the temperature became as they traveled closer to the water. Soon, they arrived to the body of water that separated the Land of Fire from the Land of Waves. Near the water was an old cabin and shack with a motor boat tied to the dock.__

"Arata!" Tazuna shouted as he knocked on the wooden door of the cabin.

__"Tazuna," a gruff voice said as an old man opened the door. "I wondered when you'd be back. This them? The ones from Konoha?"_ _

__Tazuna nodded quietly and moved from the door so Arata could lead them to his boat. They all climbed inside silently as watched ahead of them as the boat started. Naruko's nose itched from the salty air but she started to ignore the feeling as her eyes caught sight of the bridge Tazuna was supposed to be finishing._ _

__"Whoa… It's huge!"_ _

__Sasuke and Sakura followed her line of sight and both of their eyes widened in awe. "Wow…," Sakura gasped in surprise as Sasuke grunted in approval at the same time._ _

__Tazuna's face lit up with pride. "That bridge will soon be the landmark to put our recovered village on the map."_ _

__"Hopefully," Arata grunted. "With that leech, Gatō, around I'm not sure how much we can do anymore." He slowed down the boat to a stop as it arrived to the shore outside of the village. "If Tazuna dies building this bridge… that's the end of it." He gave Tazuna a half-hearted wave and started his boat up again and rode off._ _

__"He's always been a bit of a pessimist…," grumbled Tazuna._ _

__Team 7 and their charge moved on towards the village when Naruko's ears caught the sound of light rustling nearby. In a flash, she flicked out a kunai. The kunai hit the tree it was aimed at, but scared out a white rabbit from the bush._ _

__"Naruko! You almost killed that rabbit," scolded Sakura._ _

__"White rabbit… Why would there be a white rabbit?," Naruko wondered out loud._ _

__As if it answered her question, a deep, thick fog surrounded the group, forcing them to move closer to their charge._ _

___'This fog was created with chakra…,'_ Kakashi and Naruko thought simultaneously._ _

__A sharp whistling sound reached Naruko's ears and she turned her head towards the direction it was coming from. "Duck!" she and Kakashi yelled together. A wide and _extremely sharp_ sword swept over them, chopping through the two trees next to them with no resistance._ _

__A chilling, deep chuckle danced through the fog as it cleared away, allowing them to see who had caused their distress._ _

__"No way…," gasped Naruko._ _

__"Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Hidden Mist," Kakashi said softly._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all see that little baby reference to Bleach?


	8. The Land of Waves, Part Three: Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of Kirigakure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More plot, y'all

"Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Hidden Mist," Kakashi said softly.

Zabuza was a tall and noticeably muscular man with pale skin, short spiky black hair, brown eyes, and small eyebrows. He wore bandages like a mask over the bottom half of his face. Under his mask, he had a relatively narrow jaw line. He wore his forehead protector sideways on his head. He was shirtless, with his chest only covered by a belt to which he attached his frighteningly large sword. He was wearing black, baggy pants with the striped pattern typical of Kirigakure and grey and white camouflage wrist-warmers extending up to his elbows, with matching leg-warmers.

"Copy Ninja Kakashi Hatake… Hero of the Sharingan… Cold Blooded Kakashi…," Zabuza's rough voice cut through the thick fog as he grinned under the tight bandages. "You have more nicknames than me. I'm a little disappointed you're more well known than I am. But I suppose that's for the best," he shrugged. "You still like jumpin' around like a fuckin' monkey, Hatake? Copying every jutsu you see like a bored child?"

 **"Demon of the Hidden Mist, eh?"** Kurama rumbled. **"He gives off an impressive amount of demonic chakra; some of it is actually his too… but most of it is coming from Kubikiribōchō, or the Decapitating Carving Knife. It's also called the Seversword and the Executioner's Blade. It has the ability to reform itself from the iron in its victim's blood. Quite the excellent back up plan on the off chance someone manages to cut through it, which is almost impossible for its high durability. Such a spectacular and deadly weapon."** Kurama's eyes lit up dangerously as his claws ground into the soft, grassy earth of his holder's mindscape. **"Back when I could wander freely and change my size, I saw it in action myself. Yes… Kazuhiro Orenji. A brutal swordsman, but he never gave off an aura like this… Be careful, gaki; he's easily at Kakashi's level, if not more."**

Kurama's blonde partner barely acknowledged his warning as she stared at Team Seven's sudden adversary. "You're really Zabuza Momochi…," Naruko gasped out. "You're one of the best swordsmen there are! I bet you've killed more people than Kakashi!" Her blue eyes darkened to a purple tint and were alight with admiration and bloodlust.

 _'Sweet Kami, my best friend is a psychopath…,'_ Sasuke sweatdropped.

Zabuza chuckled deeply, relaxing his arm and stuck his sword into the soft ground. "Seems like I have a fan… and it's a student of the great Kakashi Hatake." He leaned onto the giant sword casually. "What's your name, gaki?"

"Naruko Uzumaki, Zabuza-sempai," she grinned, not realizing she had added the honorific.

The muscles under Zabuza's shaved eyebrows raised. "Uzumaki, eh? You sure as hell don't look like one... Shit, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you look like..." His chest rumbled with a low chuckle that sent shivers up Sakura's and Tazuna's spines. "So you might be their kid. Well, I'll be... she really went through with it." The swordsman stared intently into her purple tinted eyes, then looked at Kakashi with the question in his own before saying it aloud. "Is it true, Hatake? She a Uzumaki?"

Kakashi nodded once, grudgingly answering his question. "Yes."

"Hmph. In this case, I'll believe you." He rolled back his left armwarmer and nicked his right thumb on the edge of his sword. Tattooed on the inside of Zabuza's wrist was a Storage Seal. He swiped his thumb downwards over the seal and in a puff of smoke, a long, slim sword with an upward-curved bladed prong near the tip of the blade and another one near the base of the blade's hand guard. He then repeated the process with his left arm, and another sword appeared — its twin.

"What are those...?" Sakura whispered. She was quiet enough that neither Tazuna nor Sasuke could barely hear, but Zabuza heard her just fine.

"These... are Kiba. A pair of the Seven Swords of the Mist. They each have been imbued with lightning, displaying enhanced cutting power in a manner similar to the high-frequency vibrations of lightning-based chakra flow. It is this capability that resulted in these being called the Thunderswords and claimed as the sharpest swords in existence. They were previously owned by both Ameyuri Ringo and Mangetsu Hozuki," Zabuza explained. "There's a bunch of other shit too, but I never cared to learn about it. What I can tell you is that they were built by an Uzumaki. Takumi, I think. All of the Seven Swords were uniquely designed by one Uzumaki each. Here." He offered the pair of swords to Naruko, shocking the group of ninja to their cores.

He dutifully ignored their amazed looks and finished explaining. "If the blonde gaki claims that she's an Uzumaki, all she'll need to do is prove it by spreading blood over the bottom of the one of the sword's hilts and a scroll should appear. I'll come back for the bridge builder in two weeks and I want you to use those in our battle. If I'm impressed, you can keep them. But if not...," Zabuza suddenly sliced his sword through the ground and held it out effortlessly in midair, pointing it towards Tazuna, who gulped dryly. "I'll chop every single one of you straight down the middle… starting with the bridge builder. Don't make me regret this." The rogue ninja looked towards the trees. "Haku, let's go."

A sudden gust of wind wound in rapid circles next to Zabuza, bringing along a chilling wind. The rogue's partner faded into the miniature blizzard, the shinobi's outfit consisted of the standard Kirigakure pinstriped outfit which stopped at her knees. Over this she wore a green haori with white trimmings, and around her waist a brown sash with a fringed trail wrapped around her waist twice. She also wore light-brown platoon sandals with straps in the same colour as her kimono and nail polish on her fingernails and toenails in matching blue green colour. The ninja's long hair was gathered in a white bun holder, while two locks of her hair fell loose framing her face, bound with metal hair cuffs at the ends. She wore a hunter-nin mask over her face, which was white with thin, curved eye-holes and a red wavy design in place of the mouth, as well as the Kirigakure symbol etched in the top.

 _'This kid... she's strong but she's probably around the same age as Sasuke, Sakura and Naruko judging from her height…,_ ' Kakashi thought. _'Could she really be a Hunter Nin that abandoned Kiri for Zabuza?'_

The two wasted no time taking their leave as Zabuza sealessly summoned another deep fog. The group squinted their eyes in an attempt to catch them disappearing but to no avail. The thick fog lasted a few more seconds longer before it started to dissipate, allowing them to see clearly. Despite the soft soil under their feet, Zabuza and his partner, Haku, left no footprints. The only thing that proved the two were even their presence was the deep slice in the ground that Zabuza's sword created and the fact that there was still a chill from Haku's brief appearance.

"Why would he just hand them over?" Sasuke wondered, his quiet voice interrupting the still silence. "Family heirloom or not… Those swords were a part of one of the most dangerous groups ever created and are deeply rooted in Kirigakure's history. They're way too powerful to just… give up."

No one acknowledged Sasuke's legitimate question, for there was no good answer.

¤¤¤

"Zabuza-sama… why did you give that girl Kiba? Now they will have an advantage against us," Haku inquired as he lept from one tree to the next.

The two slowed down their escape as they closed in on Gatō's hideout. "They belong to her, Haku…," Zabuza grunted. "Advantage or no, those swords are her's and her's alone. Only an Uzumaki will be able to properly discover all of the secrets from the Swords of the Mist. Only natural seein' as they were built by the Uzumaki right?"

Haku nodded silently and kept a leisurely pace next to his master. He wholeheartedly agreed… no ninja should be denied their heritage.

¤¤¤

It wasn't soon after the mysterious meeting of Zabuza and his young partner that the bridge builder and his guards arrived to the once prosperous fishing village of Wave. The village was now practically barren, with random spots of dead grass sprinkled as far as they could see. They spotted a few dead trees near the edges of the village and some trees that weren't dead, but were well into the process of dying anyway.

A few dozen villagers wandered out of their homes, attempting to salvage vegetables from their gardens of dry soil. Some were too busy to notice Tazuna and his bodyguards, but those that did, waved and smiled halfheartedly at him and his endeavor to continue building their bridge. "Gatō… cut off our water supply…," Tazuna explained quietly. "Some of his men built dams in the rivers that flows into our main lake. Every month, his goons collect taxes from everyone in the village. If we don't come up with the money, no water. We haven't had tourists come through in three months, and none of our fishermen, traders or carpenters can get through the dams without paying a traveling tax. Right now, we barely have enough water to clean ourselves and clothes."

"Clearly explaining why the ground is so dry," Sakura said in understanding. She kneeled down, prodding the earth with her fingers gently and frowning when a light cloud of dry dirt lifts from the ground.

"What a bastard!" growled Naruko. "He knows no one will come through if the only way to get here is by a dinky boat in a still river, no one would waste their time!"

"And if someone does, none of the villagers can sell anything since almost everything's no good, nor can they buy because they haven't sold anything to make money," Sasuke added.

"He put you guys at a financial impasse…," Kakashi concluded.

All Tazuna could do was sigh as he lead them to his home.

"Tou-san! Father, you're finally home!"

As Tazuna opened the door to his home, he was jumped upon by a woman twenty-three years his junior. "Tsunami... I'm glad to see you're safe... Have you and Inari been doing well since I left?" He asked hugging his daughter tightly.

"Yes, yes, we're fine. What about you, I hope you didn't run into any trouble?" The way Tsunami looked at her father, Team 7 suspected that their client had many run ins with trouble in the past.

"Well...," Tazuna gave a sheepish, gruff sounding laugh as he rubbed the back of his head. "Some ninja did come after me a little while after I left Konoha, but luckily the ninja I hired took care of them real quick."

"Oh!" Tsunami looked up at Kakashi with grateful eyes. "Thank you very much, ninja-san."

The silver-haired scarecrow's uncovered eye curved upwards. "Heh, not me. It was my three students here that saved your father." He ruffled the tops of Sasuke's and Naruko's hair, easily ignoring their half hearted glares.

Swatting Kakashi's large hand away, Naruko grinned proudly up the old man's daughter.

"Oh my! Tou-san, you said you'd hire ninja to help, not children!"

"Ah, but they are ninja, just... ninja-in-training and they quite strong for their young age," Kakashi smiled under his mask. "I'm Kakashi Hatake, their jōnin sensei. These are my students: the blonde is Naruko Uzumaki, the one in the middle is Sakura Haruno and the boy is Sasuke Uchiha. Together, we are more than capable in assisting your village." As Sasuke and Naruko nodded in approval, all Sakura could do was give a small smile.

_'I didn't even do anything but guard Tazuna and look scared... I'm the weakest in our age group... I don't want to be left behind... I'll ask Kakashi-sensei to help me or maybe even Naruko...'_

"Yeah! Gatō won't know what hit him!" hyped Naruko.

"What makes you think you can stop Gatō?" a young voice scoffed. All eyes were suddenly directed to a small nine year old boy. He was wearing green overalls, a cream colored turtleneck shirt and a white hat with blue stripes.

"Who the hell says we can't, shorty?" asked Naruko, making a face at the younger boy.

 **"Where do you get off calling someone short?"** Kurama asked incredulously.

 _'Quiet, furball, I'm trying to make a point here.'_ The giant fox snorted and rested his head on his huge human-like paws.

"Let me tell you somethin'...," Naruko trailed off, wanting the boy's name.

"Inari," the small boy huffed.

"Right, Inari. Gatō is nothing but a fat bully. And bullies like him deserve the beating we're gonna give him. Why? Because no one deserves to suffer for the selfishness of others. Seein' all these people around who just wanna live peacefully…," she gritted her teeth. "We're gonna take back Wave. And whatever slimy thing Gatō has up his sleeves to throw at us, we'll throw it back twice as hard."

Inari scoffed. "Don't be hero; there's no such thing anyway. You're from Konoha, what would you know about loss, pain or suffering?"

"What would I know? _What would I know?_ " Naruko's voice began to rise. "I know almost nothing about loss, because for half of my life, I didn't have anyone. You don't have to deal with people giving you bad food simply because they think I don't deserve it. You didn't have parents pulling their kids off playgrounds because they didn't want them around me. Or how about _accidentally_ getting hit with a rock every once in a while? Or —," her voice started to waver as she closed her eyes, forcing herself to shake the memories from her mind. "A long time ago, I made a promise to myself to always push through adversity and that's what I'm gonna help Wave do. Now are you gonna help or are you just gonna sit around like a baby?"

Inari stared up at Naruko with a blank face until he developed a sneer. "You're wasting your time… Hope you had a nice life…" The boy disappeared back up the stairs without another word to his mother or grandfather. A moment later, you could hear a door close with a resounding slam. Watching the boy go upstairs with a frown, Naruko turned back towards Tazuna and Tsunami, her eyes aglow with assuredness. "I meant what I said. A Konoha ninja never goes back on a mission, and I won't go back on my word. Gatō will _never_ leech from another village again." Listening to the finality in Naruko's voice, the rest of the group couldn't help but believe her.

¤¤¤

"What the fuck do you mean you didn't kill them?" Gatō roared. In his anger, the short man kicked the prostitute away from his lap and stood, throwing his best glare at Zabuza. Internally, the short man recoiled at the dangerous look the ninja gave him.

"Watch yourself, Gatō. First of all, don't shout at me; it gets me tense. And when I get tense, I get angry. I'm pretty sure you don't wanna see me angry do you, Gatō?" The businessman's confidence faltered, causing Zabuza's jagged teeth shifted into a grin under his bandages. One of the few things that Zabuza's loved to do was scare the shit out of people who thought they could walk over him. "I didn't kill the Konoha ninja because at that time, I didn't want to. Especially when one of the ninja is Kakashi Hatake; one of Konoha's strongest ninja. I made a deal with 'em, gave 'em one week to get their shit together and then Haku and I going back to finish them off. And when we get back, I want my fuckin' money."

The rogue jōnin slammed both of his hands palm down on Gatō's desk, holding back a laugh when the short man jumped slightly from the impact. Underneath the desk, the girl whimpered from the echoing sound and covered her ears. "I _will_ get my money, right?" Zabuza couldn't help but release a little of his killing intent into the room. The two other people in the room began to shudder from the pressure, even his two bodyguards outside the door.

 _'Pussies,'_ Zabuza smirked.

"You'll get it," Gatō growled through his teeth.

"Good, because if I don't, I will rip this place apart and take your head clean off your shoulders before you could even close your eyes." With that, the ninja left the room without another word and Gatō with a high racing pulse.

¤¤¤

"Um, Tsunami-san, Tazuna-san, if you don't mind my asking… what does this man Kaiza have to do with Inari not having faith that we'll get rid of Gatō?" Sakura asked hesitantly. Just a few moments earlier, the entire group (including Inari) had sat down for dinner, when Tazuna had mentioned a man named Kaiza. The instant the name left Tazuna's lips, Inari shot up from his seat and raced upstairs, not giving his mother a chance to stop him.

"Kaiza...," Tazuna wetted his lips and sighed softly. "Kaiza was Inari's step-father."

"Though he and I hadn't been married," Tsunami threw in.

"About a year and a half ago, Inari was playing with his puppy, Pochi, by the lake when three boys started to bully Inari and threw Pochi into the lake. Inari jumped in, but at that time he didn't know how to swim. He nearly drowned when Kaiza came along and saved him. Meanwhile, Pochi managed to swim to shore and ran away. Ever since then, not only Inari but the entire town looked up to Kaiza. He saved some of our fishermen from a horrible flood and even scared back some of Gatō's mercenaries who watched over the village for him. When Gatō caught word of someone opposing him, he… he had Kaiza killed in the middle of the village where everyone could see," the bridge builder stared down at the table in despair. " _'This is what happens you try to be a hero,'_ he said. Right on the spot, Kaiza was beheaded and his body was set on fire. Inari was watching the entire time."

Gasping softly, Sakura looked up to the ceiling briefly. "I'm so sorry… I shouldn't have asked."

"No, no, you're fine," Tazuna assured her. "It was an honest question. Inari is the whole reason why I'm building this bridge in the first place. He needs to learn that being a hero doesn't always mean having the strength to fight back, but the courage and willpower."

Soon, after an uncomfortably silent dinner, Team 7 plus the residents of Tazuna's home all retreated to bed. Tsunami generously offered their guest room for the ninja to sleep and Team 7 quickly succumbed to the allure of sleep.

¤¤¤  
…

…

"Uchiha-dono… Ano, Uchiha-dono, could you wake up please?" Something soft tapped Sasuke's cheek. It almost felt like… fur? He blinked his eyes rapidly and immediately realized that he was in a place he'd never seen before.

For starters, he was outside; he clearly remembered going to sleep in the spare room of Tazuna's home with his teammates. As fas as Sasuke could see, there were dozens and dozens of vibrant green trees towering over him. The heavy blankets of leaves grew together from tree to tree, almost blocking out the sun completely from the ground. Several vines danced around the tree trunks to rest healthily on the ground, while others swung lightly in the almost non-existent breeze.

He was also very hot.

 _'Kami, where the hell am I and why is it so humid?'_ Sasuke moaned, brushing his already damp hair away from his forehead…?! He patted his bare forehead with widened dark eyes.

Suddenly, above him was his headband, the top of the cloth barely brushing his nose as the north end was being held by a … black paw?

"Hn, dunno what you're looking for this thing for… You're sure as hell not worthy of it," a deep, snobbish voice said over his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally all caught up with the pre-written chapters^^


	9. The Land of Waves: Kuroashi Jungle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Been a fuckin' long time comin', yeah? I've been struggling with this fic for a while and it just hit me last night and finished it up. And I actually like it. 
> 
> Writer's block is a bitch. If y'all read my Avengers In The Shadows too, it's coming next, bet on it.

Standing above Sasuke were two animals, panthers, both standing at least six feet tall. The one dangling his headband above him — the male — looked down at him with contempt. He wore a navy blue scarf around his neck, a loincloth around his waist with silver bands around his tail and wrists.  

 

"What?" Was all Sasuke managed to get out.

 

"' _What?'_ That's all you can say? Are you stupid as much as you are weak, Uchiha?" the panther baited.

 

"I. Am _Not_. Weak," Sasuke bit out.

 

The panther sneered and kneeled down, his face close to Sasuke’s. "Coulda fooled me. Face it, Uchiha." Fine, white, sharp teeth shined brightly in the sunlight of the forest when the panther bared them into a grin and patted the teen's cheek patronizingly. "You're weak. A pathetic excuse for a ninja with a grudge. You don't have any real drive. Just a single minded kid willing to throw everything away for revenge."

 

"That's not true!" snapped Sasuke. He swatted the giant paw away from his face, glaring up at the demon.

 

Ignoring the faint pushing against his paw, the panther hit Sasuke’s head once more before dropping it. " _Isn't it?_ For six years, the only real thing pushing you to be a ninja was defending yourself against Itachi. Six years you've wasted doing nothing but being afraid of your own shadow, terrified that he would come back to finish the job." He stood, shaking his head sympathetically. "What about your friends, Sasuke? Don't you care about them? What if Itachi comes after them first?" he jeered.

 

Not once did Sasuke question how this strangely bipedal panther knew the inner workings of his mind. How he kept his fear of his elder brother sneaking into Konoha for the sole purpose of erasing him from existence, buried in the back of his mind. He'd never even told Naruko of his worry; the fact is, the more time he spent around her, the further it was pushed from his mind.

 

It kept him up at night though.

 

Up until two months ago now, when his brother left him that small note. It gave him a small sense of security but gave him more reason to worry. If his brother could get into Konoha just to leave three words on a paper in broad daylight, what was stopping him from killing him in the middle of the night?

 

But what if Itachi leaving the note was a sign of safety? Risking his life to congratulate his only brother on becoming a Genin? Could Itachi care that much?

 

Before Sasuke could get any deeper into his thoughts, he asked a question. "Where the hell am I, anyway?"

 

"Now you're finally asking the right questions... This is Kuroashi Jungle, the domain of the panther demons. Our leader and father, Ryoko, reverse summoned you here to test your worthiness."

 

At this, Sasuke finally picked himself up from the ground and stared up at the panther. "Worthiness? What are you talking about?"

 

The blue sporting panther rolled his peridot colored eyes and sighed. "Don't you know anything?"

 

"Now Isamu, you knew that Uchiha-dono would not know why he's here. Tou-san told us that," the second panther spoke. This one, Sasuke deduced from the sound of its voice, was a female. She instead wore two green scarves around her biceps and a loincloth around her waist. She too, had silver bands wrapped around her tail and wrists.

 

"Aw, Ami, I was just having a little fun...," Isamu groaned, rubbing the back of his neck.

 

"You know better, nii-san," the newly named Ami scolded. She turned to Sasuke with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry about him. He can be a bit... much. My name is Ami and this is my younger brother, Isamu. As my brother was trying to explain, our father has brought you here to pass a series of tests in order to have access to our Summoning Scroll. With that, comes additional features that only our father can disclose to you."

 

A skeptical Sasuke stared at the two over-sized cats with narrowed eyes. He shook his head in disappointment. "No. That's impossible. _This_ is impossible. I know about the Panther Contract. It used to be handed down to the next head of the Uchiha Clan for years -- decades, even," he denied. "I must be having some type of weird dream."

 

"You are actually asleep, Uchiha-dono," Ami comfirmed. "Our father only summoned your soul; not your body."

 

Eyebrow raised, Sasuke prodded at his body with pokes and pinches. His face twinged with slight pain when he gave himself a harsh pinch on his thigh. He looked up at the two panthers, expecting them to vanish. Isamu grinned down at him with all of his teeth bared. “What? Did you think that's all it took to get out of a reverse summoning? Especially from a _demon_ contract? Get up; we've already wasted too much time here.” The warrior pulled the genin up by the collar of his pajama shirt. “We don't have long until you wake up. Time may go slow here, but it still passes; each hour out there with the humans is a day here.”

 

With no other choice, Sasuke followed the siblings through the humid jungle. He tried his best to avoid any prickly vines or broken branches strewn across the soft soil. Some did manage to scratch up his calves but the stinging eventually faded away with every step.

 

 _‘This has to be a dream,’_ Sasuke thought. _‘But everything feels so… real. Down to the sticks poking my feet. I'm even sweating.’_ He didn't have much of a choice but to accept his predicament for the time being. At least until he found a way to wake himself up.

 

Eventually, the three entered a large clearing. Short but thick grass from tree to tree with the sun peering down from the opening between the branches. It felt less humid here than it did among the thick of the jungle.

 

If Sasuke was being honest, it actually looks rather beautiful. The field glowed from the sunlight, the healthy green grass swayed in the light breeze.

 

He felt… at peace here.

 

“The Chosen One is finally here, Ryoko-sama,” an older looking panther croaked. It stepped lightly from the trees with younger cats following closely after. They eventually formed a semi-circle around the three new arrivals, leaving an opening at the north of the circle towards the trees. Sasuke counted fifteen of the panthers overall, including Ami and Isamu. They all stood stoically, waiting for their leader to arrive.

 

He emerged quietly, so much that Sasuke couldn't even hear his steps. He stood proudly and gracefully when he took his place in the last open spot of their circle. His eyes, a striking and intimidating gold, were locked on Sasuke during this entire moment. Ryoko was much taller than the rest, almost eight feet. Also unlike the subordinates that arrived before him (two had the same silver bands and the others merely had a cloth), Ryoko wore a wide, golden band around his tail. A ranking system. It seemed as if the ones with silver were the elite fighters, seeing as there were only four, including Isamu and Ami, that had them. Ryoko was also more muscular as well, but from the way he moved, it didn't seem like speed was an issue.

 

Staring up at the panther demon, Sasuke felt this odd urge to hold his fist to his chest (where his birthmark happened to be) and bow.

 

So he did.

 

This caused the demons surrounding him to gasp in surprise. But why? He supposed they didn’t expect him to do so. He didn’t expect to either. It just felt as if he needed to. Was it because of the Demon Lord’s imposing presence? Or was there some deeper reasoning as well?

 

Sasuke’s questions were answered rather quickly. The towering panther walked into the middle of the circle were the genin stood. He patted Sasuke’s shoulder with a heavy paw and a deep chuckle that vibrated in his eardrums. “It seems Marking you was not a mistake, my boy,” his voice rumbled.

 

“Thank you,” he managed to get out. “But what I don’t understand is… how have I not seen or heard anything about the Panther Contract? I thought my clan had lost it. And why did you think Marking me was important?”

 

Ryoko, impressed Sasuke’s determination to get to the point, looked and nodded to the others, giving them his approval to sit. “Please,” he gestured to Sasuke before sitting and crossing his legs on the grass. Sasuke followed suit. “The Uchiha clan, until recently, lost their privilege to associate with mine. They were once a clan of proficient fighters and great allies; gave us great battles to assist in. But their major flaw was arrogance. And with it came their lack of respect for my people. It is that simple.” Ryoko’s voice echoed through the meadow, deep and smooth, each word burying itself into Sasuke’s brain.

 

He was under the impression that the contract was merely stolen because of a fool not protecting it properly. They lied? _“Worthiness.”_ Isamu’s voice echoed in his head. How much was there that Sasuke didn’t know about his clan’s history? If there was one thing he noticed from a young age, it was how entitled some, if not most, of his clan members were. He would have to investigate this when they returned to Konoha. “You said, ‘until recently.’ What changed?” Sasuke inquired.

 

“You did,” the demon smiled. “Like the other Demon Contracts, as Lord, we personally choose our Summoners. Our elder, Michi, watches the souls that are born to the Uchiha. He picks the soul for me mark, but only I have the authority to accept or reject it. It has been quite some time that I have chosen someone worthy of our help. Kei Uchiha was the last, I believe,” he explained.

 

For the first time in while, a familiar voice made itself known in Sasuke’s mind. **“Kei Uchiha..,”** Sasu mused. **“I recognize that name; maybe Itachi told us about him...”**

 

Ryoko continued. “You are the most honorable soul I have seen since. There is a need to seek the truth in you. You’ve forged strong bonds already in your short years. I see greatness in you, Sasuke Uchiha.” The panther stood, towering over Sasuke like a tree. He held out his paw for him to grab.

 

The Demon Lord’s words had brought a sense of confusion to Sasuke. Why was he chosen to carry the burden of such a rare and powerful contract? Why did it take the words of _demon_ to instill such a feeling of encouragement instead of his own _father_? Though Ryoko’s explanation did clear up why he felt so at peace in such a foreign place. Subconsciously, he knew he belonged here. The Uchiha, his clan, did they truly spoil themselves with their power of the Sharingan?

 

Filled with new sense of determination, Sasuke firmly grasped the _(his)_ leader’s paw and pulled himself up. “What do I need to do to prove myself?” At this, Ryoko stared at Sasuke for a moment.

 

“I don’t think that will be necessary, young one.” He pressed his paw against the birthmark he'd blessed Sasuke with. “You already have.”

 

A bright light overcame Sasuke's sight and forced him to cover and close his eyes. When he reopened them, he was back in the guest room of Tazuna's home, dizzy, his birthmark hot and glowing. He hissed in pain and attempted to rub the mark when he realized he was holding something in his right hand.

 

A scroll.

 

_The Panther Contract._

 

His eyes darted towards Naruko and Sakura. Seeing that they were still sound asleep, he quietly snuck outside through the window into the woods. He found a clearing well enough away from the house and immediately opened the scroll. Something that had been lost to his family for, Kami, fifty years? Last member of his clan to even see it was Kei Uchiha, one of the best swordsman the Uchiha ever produced. He'd heard stories when he was younger, Konoha no Akai Kage*, they called him. He had never particularly been interested in the art of the sword before, but remembering the battle stories he'd been told, maybe it wouldn't hurt.

 

Sasuke unfurled the scroll, surprised by how many names were initially signed. A lot of names were signed around the same time, but they became less frequent until Kei.

 

And now him.

 

Somehow, (Ryoko, Sasuke suspected) he knew how to proceed. He bit into his thumb, ignoring the twinge of pain when he drew blood, and painted his index finger with the blood before signing his name and stamping his thumbprint next to it. Forcing more blood to show, Sasuke raced through the proper hand signs, slammed his hand onto the ground and said, _“Ninja Art: Summoning Jutsu.”_  In a puff of white smoke, a figure stood towering over Sasuke.

 

“Well, well, you might be worth something after all, Uchiha,” Isamu jeered.

 

Unable to keep it down, Sasuke groaned out loud. “What are you doing here?”

 

“My father sent me. Decided that I would be an acceptable choice to be your partner; said some shit about us learning from each other.” The panther rolled his eyes. “As such, my first order of business is to tell you all the perks that come with signing a demon contract.”

 

“Perks?” The genin's brows furrowed in confusion. “I thought you'd just come to assist me.”

 

Isamu’s tail flicked side to side, showing his indifference to the conversation. “That's only for _normal_ summons, like the toads. As a demonic summoner, you automatically get the option of becoming a demon. Or, half of one anyway.”

 

A breathy laugh escaped Sasuke as he leaned against a tree behind him. He slid down to the ground, running his hand through his hair. _“Becoming one?”_ he echoed.

 

“Yup, a hanyou. There's no consequence if you say no, you just won't have access to any of the abilities or jutsu we have to offer.”

 

Is this the same situation that Kei went through? His partnership with the panthers was legendary, but he showed no signs of anything demonic. So maybe he said no? Or… maybe a cloaking jutsu or seal to hide anything that looked remotely demonic? He didn't even have any idea these types of contracts existed until, what ten minutes ago? The only demon he knew of was the Kyuubi, sealed away in his best friend. Were there others like her? Other contracts like this?

 

It was definitely an interesting problem to have… and she didn't notice, but Sasuke often saw the flickers of the Kyuubi peeking through. Her eyes would change color when she's angry or eager to fight. She was more durable in a fight too; faster. Her eye sight was better than the Hyuuga, could smell better than the Inuzuka on a good day. None of those seemed bad, not at all.

 

But…

  
“W-would I get a tail and ears?” he asked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *(The Red Shadow of Konoha)


	10. a quick update (gonna be deleted when the chapter updates roll through)

Okay, hi everyone! Firstly, yes, it's me, daddyjoonie. I really wanted a more non-fandom related name, something people could remember a bit easier with fondness.

Second, lemme say that I am sorry about leaving you guys hanging for so damn long. But I have a good reason! Recently, I have been struggling with how I wanted to present this story. For me, a lot of things did not add up, I saw plot holes that would develop down the road and something new hit me a while ago about how to fix it. I won't spoil what it is obviously, but you all will see what it is in the first chapter. Meaning that I have, in a way, overhauled this story. One major characteristic has been changed, completely altering (at least) the first five chapters. Now, the first chapter will have the biggest plot differences of all, so I  **strongly** recommend that you go and read it. It will be updated within the next day or so after this, so no worries.

 

Lastly, I am on social media! Both BTS "fandom accounts" but I really will nerd out about Naruto, SPN, Pokemon, Sherlock, all that good shit. On both tumblr and twitter, I'm @kimthotjoon, so hit me up!

 

 

~ur boi, shadowcaster


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